The Best in the World

[jricketts96]

The objective of this story is to ultimately become the most reputable manager in world football. To do this I am planning to win trophies with a team in every one of the twelve countries that I am managing in. On top of this I expect to win a few European titles along the way. But ultimately it leads to the idea that I want to get to the top of the managerial hall of fame. Because of the magnitude of the challenge, this is likely to be an extremely long save. This is my first story so if there is anything extra that you want to see then just ask.

My first team was chosen randomly by the game.

Job 1 - Belgium - Standard - First Foray into Management



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Progress from the first season is to follow:

 

[jricketts96]

The first foray into management
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My first movement into management saw the Belgian outfit of Standard chosen. A team and league that I had no knowledge of.


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Objectives
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• Challenge for the title
• Win a domestic competition
• Reach the latter stages of Europe

Key Players:

Defender:

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Jelle Van Damme
This lad is likely to be the heart of the whole team. Seemingly a class above the rest

Midfielder:

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Paul-Jose Mpoku
This lad looks like an all round midfielder who could help very well in different positions.

Attackers:

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Michy Batshuayi
It looks like he could develop into a real gem of a player with enough playing time


Transfers

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With very little money to spend and only a maximum of 9k a week on wages. It was hard to attract and sign any top players. So the transfer window was extremely limited with only Pajtim Kasami and Kevin Conboy coming in. However I'm confident that my squad has enough quality to do well this season.

Pre-season


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A decent preseason as we remained unbeaten including a respectable point against Zenit. Winning our last game is a bonus as it hopefully it will give the team a boost heading into the start of competitive football.

The season starts here!
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[jricketts96]

July
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18th July 2013 - Euro Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Leg 1

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This was a good result against a weak team. Ideally would have hoped for more given the domination of the game.


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25th July 2013 - Euro Cup 2nd Qualifying Round Leg 2

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This was another similar game and result but again chance conversion could have been improved. None the less we progress to the next round


The draw was made shortly after pitting us against Slovakian first division outfit Trencin.

Transfer Update

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The lack of a wage budget means it is hard to keep senior players when other big clubs make an offer. So in this instance I had to sell for as big a profit as possible and bring in a good replacement. Furthermore only 40% of transfer revenue is made available so therefor replacements must cost a lot less than the money brought in.


Transfers Out:

AS Monaco came in with a firm approach for Ibrahima Cisse. One that I immediately rejected however this caused unrest and Cisse came me demanding to move. I managed to get 2.9million for him with a 25% sell on clause which should bring in a considerable amount considering the players potential. However this deal fell thorugh due to the player being unhappy about his wages.

Another player is deadwood goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima. It was not necessary for me to replace him as he was only my third choice keeper. So I could use the 925k from Nottingham Forest to bring in a centre midfielder as replacement for Cisse

Towards the end of the month, another of the top players at the club has requested to leave as he wants to move to a bigger club in the later stages of the season. Jelle Van Damme; in my opinion the best player at the club. (I must be scaring them all off) And i'm not going to keep someone who is not interested in playing for the club. However, he will not be leaving unless I receive a satisfactory offer and can find a replacement.

Transfers In:

The scouting will begin to find budget replacements for both Ibrahima Cisse and Jelle Van Damme


What is to come for Standard in August? The start of the domestic season? And progression in Europe?

 

[mike887]

i like the the layout ill be following good luck

 

[jricketts96]

August

A month to Forget

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To be brutally honest, this was an absolutely dreadful start to the season by only picking up one win. However performances are improving defensively as at the start of the season there seemed to be a lot of space in behind the defence, leading to many goals. However, since halting the team from hassling opponents this hasnt happened in a game since. The main problem I am left with is scoring goals.

1st August 2013 - Euro Cup Qualifying Third Round Leg 1

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This result was not good enough against a team who should have been brushed aside comfortably.
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4th August 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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A good result that was to be expected, giving me a good start to the season. Confidence builder
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8th August 2013 - Euro Cup Qualifying Third Round Leg 2

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Thoroughly disappointed to be taken to penalties by such a weak team. Should be doing better. Defence is looking poor
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11th August 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Worst result so far, need to be clinical in front of goal. Too much space is being left behind the defence causing problems. Still dominating possession in games. Must do better.
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18th August 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Well beaten by title contenders, never stood a chance. After making a tactical change defensively at half time it looked to be improving but the comeback was halted by Jelle Van Damme's second red card of the season.
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22nd August 2013 - Euro Cup Playoff Leg 1

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Performances are improving but results are still poor at this stage.
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25 August 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Another disappointing result but a point is better than nothing. Hopefully Batshuayi will go on a run of goalscoring after netting his first of the season in this game
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29 August 2013 - Euro Cup Playoff Leg 2

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Another disappointing performance as I get knocked out of the Euro Cup at such an early stage. At the moment I think the main problem is a lack of confidence after such a poor start to the season




Transfer Update

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Transfer Out:

Ibrahima has left the club but only on a temporary basis after the AS Monaco Deal fell through. He eventually moved to Celta on loan for the season for 100k a month. However, there is no future clause so I will try to persuade him again next season to stay should I still be in the job.After further talks with the player Jelle Van Damme has decided to stay and play for the club on the promise that we reach Champions League football this season (top two)

Transfers In:

Cover was needed in the position occupied by Cisse. To fill this void utility man Hannes Van Der Bruggen was signed for 1 million pounds from AA Gent. Although brought in to play centre midfield he can be utilised to play on the left and also attacking and defensive midfield.

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League Table:

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Poor standing at the end of the month; but plenty of time to turn it around.


Monthly Verdict:

rankly a terrible month with no real success to talk about. The Euro Cup has ended in distaster after an early exit but this may be a good thing as it allows the team to concentrate on bridging the already very big gap to the top of the league. The main objective now is to regain confidence and start scoring some goals after a dramatic improvement defensively following a tweak to the tactics. Hopefully September will be a big improvement. But then again you cant get too much worse than 1 win in 8 games in all competitions.

 

[White army]

Gd luck should be an interesting challenge

 

[jricketts96]

September

Slight Improvement

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It wasnt hard to improve on last months dire performances but unfortunately it was only a slight improvement. Despite only losing once in September and progressing in the cup competition, it still leaves me disappointed with the league position we find ourselves in.


1st September 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Quite lucky to come out with a draw in this game but should be a game we are winning
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15th September - Belgian Pro League

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A spirited result against title contenders. You can start to see low confidence kicking in. A change of tactics will be necessary in the next match.
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20th September 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Finally we've stopped the rot; we now need to put together a run of results to climb the league. The change of tactics worked against one of five teams linked with a title challenge at the beginning of the season
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24th September 2013 - Belgian Cup 6th Round

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A win is a win and sends us through to the next round but we need to be more clinical in front of goal.
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29th September 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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A poor end of the month; throwing away a lead. Hopefully this is just a small blip in an unbeaten run.

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Other News:

Ibrahima Cisse has recently requested that he stay at the club following his loan move. This bodes well for the future of the club as he is a player of high potential.

Training facilities are planned to be improved and raise up to a very high standard allowing the club's players to reach our full potential.

Patience is running out as my job is rated as in the boardroom as very insecure. Is my mission to become the best manager going to come to a premature end.

League Table:

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Really Poor League Standing which gives the board plenty of reason to want me out. Needs improving quickly before its too late.

Monthly Verdict:

There really is only one way that I can go from here. The board, fans and previous players are starting to lose patience with some publicly questioning the clubs recent form.A pessimist will look at this month as two win in five whereas an optimist will look at it being three games unbeaten at the end of the month.

Plenty of room for improvement, but the sack looms

 

[jricketts96]

Really disappointed. This is the wort I've done of football manager 2014 so far.

Tempted to create a second story of my other career just to redeem myself as a manager of the game. Currently in 2017 with my third job in management after a reasonably successful so far.

 

[jricketts96]

October

Slow and Steady Improvement


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2nd October 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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A lucky win against a team we should be beating easily
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5th October 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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The complete opposite of the last game, a well deserved win but poor finishing and hitting the woodwork an incredible 4 time stops the result from being emphatic
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19th October 2013 Belgian Pro League

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Although a draw was probably a fair result, it rankles a bit that we through away a two goal lead in the last couple of minutes of the game.
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26th October 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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A really boring match in truth, but it could of gone either way as it opened up at the end.
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Other News:

William Vainqueur has become the latest youngster to ask for a move to a bigger club. However unlike previous chats this one managed to convince the player that he was being disrespectful hence causing him to drop the situation.

My job is safe for the time being as the job status has been moved back up to Stable.


League Table:

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The standing are looking a lot healthier than the last two months. However we must be aware of the teams who could potentially overtake us with their games in hand. Anderlecht are running away with it at the top as I predicted they would. Hopefully we can end their unbeaten streak next month when we play them.

Monthly Verdict:

A much improved month this time around. Unbeaten in October and in six games altogether. The only criticism I can have is that we are drawing too many games that we should be winning. Although we have had a good start, our league standing is poorly set back by the poor start we have had this season and it will continue to be an uphill battle to reach the top 3 form here. Next up is Anderlecht, a game that I am nervously anticipating.

 

[jricketts96]

November

The Charge Begins

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2nd November 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Very creditable result against the team that should win the league with ease.
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8th November 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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Another win against a weak team. Good to finally get a few goals on the board aswell.
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23rd November 2013 - Belgian Pro League

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A win against the rivals is always good for morale and for the supporters. Continuing to build the momentum.
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28th November 2013 - Belgian Cup 7th Round

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We've done really well to progress in this game considering we spent over 25 minutes with 9 men due to receiving injuries after making my subs.
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League Table:

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The league is starting to look a little bit more like I want it to, I now feel that we can kick on and push for a top three finish.

Monthly Verdict:

This has been another good month for the club. We are now two and a half months unbeaten and the only teams that are looking out of reach are Anderlecht and Genk. We picked up some very good results as injuries have started to hit what is already a very thin squad. From now, the objective is to keep that unbeaten record continue and that we challenge in the cup competition.

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