Taking on the world from Belfast!

[SL7]

Leaving Belfast in 2013?

Enter Dave Ferty, a 36 year old former footballer having plied his trade in the Irish League, staying with Linfield his entire career, until his premature retirement due to a career-ending knee injury aged 30. Skip forward 6 years to today, March 2013. After several years coaching in his native land it is seen as his time to leave Belfast and impose himself on the world of Football Management. And what better for a man from Belfast to do than go to England, right?

(Just so we are all aware, the game was started normally, and I've just let time fly past until 2013, figured it'd be more interesting to start with a team a few seasons into the game. I've got the English, Irish and Italian leagues loaded up and we shall see how things go, I'll probably chop and change them a lot)
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I guess I should go back to work...

Another gruelling domestic seasons winds down to a close, the unemployement rates set to sky rocket as chairman evaluate the performances of managerial staff.... Perfect opportunity for an Irish man sat around in England, trying to feed off any scraps to get back into management.

....
....
....

"Welcome back to Sky Sports news, we have a quick update announcing the recently vacated managerial position at Bradford following the clubs poor performance in the league. After a week of negotiations with the clubs chairman Mark Lawn, it has been announced that former Linfield defender, Dave Ferty, will be taking over the reigns of the club. We go to Valley Parade for the latest."

---
Speaking live at the first press conference.

"This club shouldn't be playing in League 2, and finishing in mid-table last season isn't where this club should be. A lot of the players here are earning far too much for this level and we don't need any primma donnas here. It's going to take a monumental effort to eliminate the debts surrounding us, rebuild the team and try to attain promotion back up the leagues."

.....

(Coming shortly, will be an update of activities at the end of the season/over summer building to a new season in League 2)

 

[SL7]

View attachment 309814
Duke hits the road...
In the 2013-2014 pre-season transfer window, Bradford have confirmed that veteran goalkeeper Matt Duke has been allowed to leave for Aldershot on a free transfer. Understudy Jon McLaughlin, and fellow veterans Rob Kozluk and Craig Fagan have also left the club on free transfers.

First team players Ritchie Jones and Scott Wootton have joined Crystal Palace in a cut-price 51k combined deal. It is believed that the new manager, Dave Ferty, wanted to remove the high wage costs from the club. Kyle Reid also left the club for a reported 50k to Walsall. A number of other Reserve and Youth players have been released.

View attachment 309816
Bradford 'Mend'y Defence?
In the latest transfer news, Bradford have acted quickly to replace the gaps left by the departing players. Guinea-Bissau and former Derby County defensive midfielder Arnaud Mendy joining on a free transfer, alongside the other free agents Martin Angha, formerly of Arsenal, Brendan White, a new youth prospect from Dundalk, Dave Richards, Kane Owen, Ellis Chant, a new english prospect formerly of Chelsea, Aaron Tatham, and former Schalke youth teamer Tim Rintelen. They also payed a £1,000 fee to sign new greek goalkeeper Michalis Moukes from Enfield.

View attachment 309817
International Front?
To add to the improvements on the defensive side, Bradford have also opted to sign a few free agents to replace the departing front men. Former Arsenal youngster Oguzhan Ozyakup was the first to join on a free transfer, followed by former Chelsea winger - Adam Nditi. Bradford then added a host of new youngsters in former Bohemians defensive midfielder Barry Raggett, Roma's ex Swiss midfield maestro Andreas Ponte, Ex-Oeiras winger Juninho and Aberdeens young winger/striker Michael Paton.

Bradfords manager, Dave Ferty, has recently said in an interview "I am delighted to have brought these faces to the club, we've added in Danny East, George McBribe and Jason Loweon loan as well. Unfortunately I had no choice but to reassemble the first team squad due to the poor financial management before hand. However, we now feel that with the squad we've built we should face a long and ultimately prosperous season."

Coming next... the season starts!

​

 

[stourbridge]

Hope all goes well with this mate, will follow!
You have got some quality players in there, Should be able to put up a decent battle!

 

[SL7]

We Plan, We Get There, All **** Breaks Loose

Having signed a number of formidable players, and backed up by the January arrivals of Brazlian wonderkid duo Fusco and Lau and powerful centreback Rachid Bouhenna anyone could have thought that Bradford were destined for the top.

An encouraging start to the season saw Bradford surge past Port Vale, Oxford, Oldham, Crewe and Brentford to name but a few, with many expecting the club to take this early form from September/October right through the season. However, cue several key injuries, and defeats to Cheltenham, Newport and Hereford and things started to unfold awfully quickly.

By the time January hit and the aforementioned players had joined things had started to unravel. The club sat just outside the play off zone but lacked the consistency to stay there. Defeats in January to Port Vale, Oxford and Notts County were the staple for a transfer window run which saw just one victory in the league - despite an enthrawling 1-0 FA Cup victory over Leicester.

January proved to be the bad omen and the run from there till the end of the season yielded 8 losses, 6 victories and 4 draws, leaving the club eventually languishing perilously in 11th place. Michael Paton finished the season with an impressive 22 goals, and 12 assists. Luke O'Brien continued his assault on the club record appearance holding getting himself to 249.

At the end of the season, the reserved and media-shy manager Dave Ferty released a press conference, stating "I apologize to the great fans of this club for not being able to deliver the goods. I did my best to bring the club back to a level financial footing and secure the chances of a better equiped manager to take this club to the next level. The players here are perfectly suited to do so."

This was followed with chairman Mark Lawn backing the young Irish manager, handing him a new 2 year contract, despite failing to meet any of the targets set. It appeared that the chairman had high hopes and could see the strategy set in place.

However, all was not set in stone and on the 25th of May 2014, Talksport confirmed that Bradford City Chairman had allowed manager Dave Ferty to leave the club, in a brief statement he said, "We'd like to thank Dave for his hard work, but the sum offered to us we couldn't refuse and would like to wish him well in his new challenge."

Where Art Thou Going?
Coming next, a new challenge, a bigger budget and better career prospects.... It can only mean one thing!
​

 

[SL7]

View attachment 310221
Ah Yes, Wigan
It was confirmed in the late hours of 25th May 2014 that the club Mark Lawn, of Bradford, had discssed was infact recently relegated Wigan, who finished bottom of the Premier League. Wigan chairman Dave Whelan parted with £110,000 to sign Bradford City's Dave Ferty. The two Daves scheduled a press conference for the 26th and unvieled him as the new man. "This comes as a great shock to me, I'd only last week signed a contract extension at Bradford. However, the lure of working with a better set up, bigger budget and of course a boss like Dave. One of the main reasons I joined is because he's offered me the reigns to do what I want with the squad. He's told me that whilst he'd like us to return to the Premier League he's allowing me a few years to shape the squad how I'd like."

View attachment 310224
Fab-Transfers!
Wigans new boss Dave Ferty wasted no time in shaking things up at Wigan, making a number of interesting signings. Michalis Moukeas and Tim Rintelen followed over from Bradford, the goalkeeper and defender obviously highly rated by the manager.

Romanian striker Fabian Himcinschi joined from Serie B side Empoli for a reported 1.4 Million, along with exciting wingers Eric Odhimabo (Denizlispor 240k) and Sone Aluko (Carlisle 120k). The manager then used his experience of thrifting for lower-priced players snapping up a number of young prospects from across Europe. (Full Details Below)

View attachment 310228
No Place For Mauro?
Having suffered relegation and needing to slash the wage bill significantly, Wigan have reportedly offloaded a huge number of first team staff. Mauro Boselli has left for Wolves in a deal worth 5.25 Million, whilst Luis Jiminez and James McArthur also left for Blackburn (5m) and Celtic (8m) respectively. Other top transfer news saw Franco Di Santo, Ben Watson, Jonathan Parr and George Elokobi leave the club for a combined fee of 12.8m. Other starts including Caldwell, Hendry, Crusat and Kebe all also left.

Despite the concerns of the fans, the club and manager have stated that the wage budget had to be cut as previous mismanagement would leave the club precariously balanced should they not return to the top flight. It seems that the club is prepared to bide time and build for the future.

Wigan Staff & Roster 2014-2015
View attachment 310235
Manager: Dave Ferty
Assistant Manager: Alejandro Mancini (Uruguayan Regen)
First Team Coach: Jiri Jarosik
Head of Youth Development: Ricky Sbragia
Head Goalkeeping Coach: Bogdan Lobont

Playing Staff:
(* denotes Regen)​

Goalkeepers:
(C) Ahmed Al-Habsi - One of the few players retained from the previous regime, a dependable goalkeeper
Guillaume Noel * - Young French keeper to provide back up, signed from Sarre-Union

Left Backs:
(VC) Davide Del Santo * - Italian left back joining on a free transfer from Napoli
Erik Asheim * - Norwegian player signed as back up from Odd

Centre Backs:
Andre Cruz * - Highly rated Portugese youngster.
Yann Gerard * - Versatile defender joining from Clairefontaine
Diego Mondragon * - Spanish centreback formerly of Poli Ejido
Tim Rintelen * - Signed from former club Bradford to lead the defence

Right Backs:
Steve Mercer - Former Liverpool youth prospect
Santiago * - Former Caselas full back to provide competition

Left Midfield:
Sone Aluko - Proven left winger signed from Carlisle
Tim van der Post * - Winger/Forward signed from FCV Dender to provide competition

Centre Midfield:
Karl Marx Toure - Defensive midfielder to slot into holding role, signed from Arsenal
Alvaro * - Another young Spaniard, signed from San Roque
George Geerts * - Clever young Belgian midfielder
David Kelly - Midfielder signed from Manchester United
Scott Robertson - Former Aberdeen midfielder, already at the club
Ivan Ticak * - Croatian attacking midfielder, signed from Mosor.

Right Midfield:
Eric Odhiambo - Tanzanian winger signed cheaply from Denizlispor
Eiliv Wiig * - Exciting Norwegian prospect signed from Follo

Striker:
Fabian Himcinschi - Romain striker brought in to lead the line
Moussa Seck * - French striker signed from Clairefontaine
Rayco Jiminez * - Spanish Striker formerly of Isidro

Other Noteable Players:
​

Paul Monagham * - Scottish Young GK formerly of East Stirlingshire
David * - Exciting young former Logrones CB
Vitor Fernandes * - Ex Pecadores Portugese defender
Jamie Farmer * - Right back from the Wigan youth system
Brett Lyon * - Central midfielder from the Wigan youth system
Daniel Ceschi * - AMC signed from Bellaria
Omar Altman - Strong MC, looking likely to join the first team soon.
Robert Harkins * - AMC signed from Glentanar
Jacare * - Brazilian winger
Javier * - Spanish right-sided midfielder
David Rivera * - Spanish left-sided midfielder
Murphy Esthele * - Belgian strikerformerly of Man United
Javier * - Like his namesake, a spanish player, striker.

Out On Loan:​

Michalis Moukeas * - Greek keeper at Luton
Jacky Chatelain * - French right back at Burton
Fodeba Coulibaly *- French right winger at Wrexham
Youssef Hamrouni * - Tunisian right winger at Darlington.

Youth Team:

​

Jerome Robert * - French DM from Louhans-Cuiseaux
Romain Fontaine * - French MC from Avranches
Lee Murphy * - Man Uniteds ex' striker
Graeme McCulloch * - St Johnstones former scottish striker
Graham Wilson * - Striker from the youth system

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I apologize for the lack of information surrounding my only season at Bradford, I'd made notes but accidently closed the file. I'm taking game-by-game notes, and adding in extra information so I can do proper updates with Wigan. Also, there won't be many screenshots due to this actually being played on a different laptop that is used for FM, and has no internet capabilities currently. I may pull a few off for key players and that at some point.

I don't actually have any real plans for this save, just going to see where it takes me. Ideally hoping to manage across the world and return to finish the game off in Ireland? Any suggestions or ideas on where to take the career are welcome!
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