After a season of disappointment for the vast majority of Spurs supporters, it seemed to me, as one of those disappointed supporters, that the best thing to do was to start an FM save controlling the Spurs and try my hand at doing better than my club did in real life. And since this is meant to be cathartic for me, I thought it might be nice to make it cathartic for you as well and share my season. I've not fully decided yet what form this story will take -- I quite like the more narrative versions I've seen wherein the manager character is developed through prose and the feel of the club is created through exposition. I will probably do a combination of prose narrative and simple updates depending on what kind of time I have when I'm making the update. The goal is to have an update for you every couple of days. Hope you enjoy.
PART FIRST. The Takeover
Tottenham have had no fewer than six managers in the last 13 years, caretaker managers not included, and with the end of the Portuguese wonderkid-of-managers, Andre Villas-Boas, reign they are looking for a new one. In comes the former Italian International, Fabrizio Albino. Albino played midfield for the Spurs between 1984-1995 whereupon he retired from football. He then took on a role as a coach at Spurs from 97-2000; he took over as manager in Italian Serie B side, Bari in 2001 and guided the side to sixth position in the table that season which was far higher than expected. In 2002, Bari had hopes of promotion but failed to reach even the mid-table, finishing in 11th position. Despite the disappointing result, Albino was allowed to remain as Manager in order to finish out his three-year contract. That decision was reversed, however, halfway through the season when Bari looked to be on their way to relegation to the third division. Albino was sacked.
In 2005, he was invited to work again as a coach at Spurs which he did until 2008 when opportunity knocked in the form of being named manager of Peterborough United whom he guided to promotion into the Championship. Financial problems continued to plague The Posh and they were relegated back down the very next year after finishing dead last in the Championship. Albino resigned his managerial duties in the summer, citing a bad working relationship with Barry Fry, the club's Chairman. From 2010 until 2013, Albino has worked for the Premier League side, Newcastle United as Assistant Manager to Alan Pardew. His contract runs up in June of 2013 and he is reported to be looking for a shot as Manager at a Premier League side.
I. Drawing First Blood
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Fabrizio Albino, the former International footballer and Spurs semi-legend midfielder, was sitting in the corner of a small Italian cafe in Newcastle, overlooking the Quayside. He sipped on his espresso forte slowly as he scanned over a copy of the Sunday Times -- a few days old. It was the summer break, the off-season after a long and what could only be described as successful run with the club he had called home for the last three years: Newcastle United. After a string of semi-unsucessful managerial posts in lower leagues in both England and Italy, as well as several very sterling performances as Coach at his old club, Albino had found himself a good home working with the Silver Fox that was Alan Pardew at Newcastle. But Fabrizio longed to be the boss. His contract was over in a few month's time and although he loved working at Newcastle, he was keen to move up the ranks and take over a role as Manager.
In fact, despite NUFC's Owner, Mike Ashley, offering him a substantial pay raise to stay on as Assistant Manager to Alan Pardew, Fabrizio had been putting off the discussions in order to give more time to clubs to contact him. Sure, he had heard from clubs in the Football League, the Championship and Serie B but Fabrizio was adamant that he would get a job in one of Europe's top leagues. If he didn't hear anything by June 10, he had decided, he would accept Newcastle's offer. Just then he received a phone call on his mobile. He checked the caller ID and he recognized the region of the phone call: London. Who could it be?
"Hello?"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Albino?" A young woman's voice on the other end.
"Yes, this is me. Who is calling?"
"Stay on the line for Mr. Levy, please." Click. The campest imaginable saxophone music began to play lightly in the phone before another click and then a man's voice. "Fabrizio?"
"Yes, Daniel, how are you?"
"Well, if I'm honest Fabrizio, I've been better. We are going to need a new manager. Andre and I have just met and we think it's best that we part ways now. I am calling to gauge your interest in the position. You're a Spurs legend, the fans already love you and I think you've spent enough time now in the Prem to be able to take the role comfortably. Of course we need to do our due dilligence but as soon as I knew we needed a new manager, I thought of you. So what do you think?"
"Daniel, I'm very honoured that you thought of me so quickly. Of course I would love to be back at the Lane with the boys."
"Alright Fabrizio, let me see what I can do and if we decide to pursue this, I'll be in touch again. Ta."
Albino hung up the phone and stared into his empty espresso mug, a vacant expression on his face. Was this possibly his big break?
***
It had been three weeks since Daniel Levy first contacted Fabrizio Albino and the couple had spoken a few more times about the possibility of the Italian becoming the next Spurs manager. Today, Albino is on his way to North London to sign the contract and meet with the Chairman. This was the beginning. The next chapter for Spurs and for Fabrizio Albino was about to be written.
It is what makes or breaks a Manager's career: the Press Conference. If this gang of sharks comes to like you, you can do no wrong. If they come to hate you, well... just ask the litany of Managers who've fallen victim to the scorn and ire of the British media. But it's part of the job so Fabrizio Albino obliged and met with some ten journalists to discuss his appointment as Tottenham's new manager.
Kevin Gordon (BBC Radio 5): Do you feel that your ambitions for the club are matched by the Chairman?
F.A.: I do, yes. Our discussions are often creative and there are a lot of good ideas floated about which promise good things for the future.
Sam Holmes (London Evening Standard): Do you feel the expectations asked of you this season have been fair and realistic?
F.A.: If the club is really to progress to the higher reaches of the game, everybody has to be ambitious and aim high. That's what we're doing at the moment.
S.H.: The facilities at the club are fantastic, are you excited about the opportunity to work in such an environment?
F.A.: The facilities are great, but good old fashioned hard work is equally important.
Neil Farmer (TEAMtalk.com): New managers often bring about times of upheaval and some at the club might fear for their job. Will there be many changes?
F.A.: I will undertake a complete evaluation of those at the club and get rid of any staff I consider to be deadwood. I have already informed some individuals that we will be taking the club in a different direction and no longer require their services.
Tom Buckingham (FourFourTwo): While some managers are famous for their hands-on approach, others maintain a more reserved style. How do you see your management style?
F.A.: I think the club works best when players feel valued as players as well as human beings.
K.G.: You stand here unveiled as the latest Tottenham manager. As a big fan of the club, surely this must be a dream come true?
F.A.: I have worked hard to get where I am today and I love this club with all of my heart. It is where I played most of my professional football and I have spent two parts of my post-playing career here as a coach. It is a special day for me; but there is also work to be done and I'm keen to get underway.
N.F.: It is often said that different managers favour different competitions. Will you be concentrating primarily on the Premier Division?
F.A.: Absolutely, that competition has to be my main focus.
Kyle Overson (The Guardian): On the off-chance that any agents are watching today, is there a particular area of your squad that you plan to strengthen in the near future?
F.A.: I would like to bolster our defence by signing a Left Back and a Centre Back.
Daniel Levy: Alright gentlemen, thank you very much for coming. That concludes our Press Conference.
***
In addition to the Press Conference, I have literally fired my entire backroom staff as I intend to bring in my own group. From past experience, I know that I can bring in better staff in every position and it is both affordable and imperative so that's my next job. The only one I kept was Franco Baldini and I'll be using him to do the dirty work I don't really want to do like selling players that I've transfer listed and sending players out for loans. I'll have another update soon.
I have signed the first-team backroom staff "leadership". Here they are with a brief bit of information.
Fabrizio Albino - Manager You don't need to know much as you've already been told about his career and the rest. My intention is that he will be patient and calm, enjoy free-flowing attacking football and he has a preference for bringing young players into the first team and giving them a real chance.
Gontzal Suances - Assistant Manager The Spaniard enjoyed a ten-year playing career in Spain where he made 182 appearances and scored 32 goals. After his playing career, Suances was signed by his former club, Athletic Club, as U19s Manager where he worked from 2007 until 2013. Now, he joins the backroom staff of Fabrizio Albino as Assistant Manager and seems to fit in perfectly with the Italian manager's philosophy of offering first team opportunities to young players in the squad. He's as media-friendly as the Manager himself, and he has a fairly professional personality. His key attributes are: Man Management (16), Working With Youngsters (12), Determination (14), Judging Ability (15), Judging Potential (16), Discipline (16), Motivating (16), Tactics (13). Manager Albino said he is very excited to see this young AssMan develop at the club -- and he will have lots of time to do it, having signed until 2016.
David Fevre - Head Physio David Fevre joins the Spurs from Blackburn where he served also as Head Physio after spending a few years as a member of the Physio team at Manchester United. He has just about 20 years' experience as a Physiotherapist in professional football, fourteen of which have been spent leading a team of physios. His key attributes are: Physiotherapy (20), Motivating (18), Discipline (19), Man Management (18), and Working With Youngsters (17). Manager Albino said that David was a "no brainer" to sign as his experience and ability are exactly what this club need.
Norbert Ziegler - Chief Scout Ziegler joins the Spurs as the head of the Scouting department to work alongside Franco Baldini and Fabrizio Albino to search out, identify and sign the best talent possible to join the already strong Spurs squad. He enjoyed a playing squad with Leverkusen where he made 164 appearances and scored 19 goals. Ziegler has been a scout since he signed with his former club, Leverkusen in 1988. He became that club's chief scout in 2000 and served in that role until 2012. In 2013, he signed with the Spurs. His key attributes are: Adaptability (19), Determination (19), Judging Ability (17), Judging Potential (17), Tactical Knowledge (16). Manager Albino said he was "proud to be able to have such an accomplished and experienced Chief" in his scouting team.
Bernhard Peters - Head of Youth Development Bernhard Peters joins spurs after spending the last seven years running Hoffenheim's youth development programme to some extremely great success, bringing in the likes of Kevin Volland and Guillerme Biteco. His key attributes are: Man Management (19), Working With Youngsters (20), Judging Potential (18), Discipline (20), Motivating (18), Tactical Knowledge (14). Manager Albino said that the quality of Peters' signings and discoveries at Hoffenheim are extremely exciting and he believes that those kinds of signings will serve Spurs even better because of the club's significantly better resources.
I haven't signed any other staff yet, just my so-called leaders. That's the next step but I just thought I'd show you who I have in place to lead my various crews.
I've made my first signing and I'm quite excited about it. It's the 20 year-old wonderkid, Ricardo Rodriguez who plays Left Back. We signed him for 10M pounds from Wolfsburg and he is already better than Danny Rose and promises to get pretty ****** incredible. His mentals and physicals are out of this world and it's only a matter of time before his technique matches up with them and he provides us with a real threat at LB. At the moment, he's more well versed defending than in bombing up the pitch and my plan is to have him play in the first team regularly and to bring in Danny Rose when we need someone with more gusto going forward. Anyway, I'm very excited about this signing as I believe it's something I needed immediately.
Also, I've updated my team's transfer list and it may be a bit surprising:
Younes Kaboul (CB) -- Younes is in his last year of a contract and he wants to more than double his current wage. That would normally be fine but his performance in the lilywhite has been somewhat disappointing in the last year and I don't see it getting much better this year. I'd like to make a decent amount from him so I've set my initial asking price at double his current value (as he is entering into his prime years, after all). So we're asking for 24.5M pounds but I would settle for as little as 16.5M if it came down to the wire. If not, he's still a good enough player for first team football.
Brad Friedel (GK) -- He's a capable Goalkeeper but he's certainly not got long left. He's also in the final year of his contract and I don't really want to sign him to an extension since I don't know how long it will be before he retires. My plan is to buy a young keeper-in-the-rough to play in cup games -- any suggestions are welcome.
Kyle Naughton (DL/R) -- He's a good player, sure, but he's not really the kind of quality player we want going forward. He's struggled to break into our first team and things won't be made easier by our acquisition of Rodriguez. It's probably best for everyone if he is sold for a good price and allowed to join a team whose ambitions closer match his quality.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (CAM) -- This one hurts the most. He's one of my favourite players at Spurs if I'm honest and I think he's got a lot of potential but the fact is that we have Christian Eriksen to play CAM and we can find a more natural AML with the money we make from his sale. I won't be letting him go cheap, though, and I'm looking to make around 15M from him. (By the way, he was one of Bernhard Peters' findings at Hoffenheim).
Now that I've signed a Left Back, here are my needs:
Centre Back - Someone to step in and take Younes' spot. Vlad is great and I look forward to having him rotate in and out of the first team over the next couple of seasons but I don't think he's ready to be a regular first-team starter with us. We need someone to come in and I'm really hoping to bring back Caulker as we never should have let him go and I think he's prepared to be in the first team. But I won't be paying all that much for him (I'm thinking 15M maximum) so if Cardiff won't let him go easily, I'll have to look elsewhere. Any ideas?
AML - A natural winger to run paces down the left, get further forward, cross from the byline and basically be a phenom on the left side. Andy Townsend can step in as needed but he's not first team yet. Right now I have a plethora of names in my head: Nicolas Gaitan, Gonzalo Castro, Ibrahima Traore, Zoltan Stieber, just to name a few. I've got my scouts on it.
GK - A young, promising Goalkeeper. People like ter Stegen are too good at the moment to play backup so I don't think he's a viable option but we'll see. I'll try both ter Stegen and Leno but I won't bring anyone in who won't accept being backup to Hugo Lloris -- he's the French national captain for God's sake.
Alright, as always, let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions for me and COME ON YOU SPURS!
Konoplyanka for a AML? he's a good Inside Forward and him Eriksen and Lamela would be class if not Kono then Jay Rodriguez. Centre back I'd try and bring Caulker back or maybe Erik Dier or Jamaal Lascelles and for a backup GK maybe Kasper Schmeichel? one year left on his contract or promote Jordan Archer and make him available for the u21's.
