The Man, The Myth, The Manager: The Story of Daniele Del Conte

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I7IDanny

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10/5/14

City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester.


"And with that is the end to a relatively disappointing season for Manchester City, culumating in a 4-3 defeat to Sunderland... But it will be the end of an era for one of the players out there today, with Daniele Del Conte bowing out from professional football. He's had a fantastic career, 15 seasons at Man City, winning every trophy at club level, captaining San Marino and winning one hundred and twenty one caps for the small country, he's really helped put them on the footballing map. He's possibly up there as one of the best footballers never to win the Ballon D'Or."


So here I was, my journey from fresh faced teen at Sassuolo to five-times European champion with Manchester City complete as I walked off the pitch. In my time at the Manchester club, we won pretty much every trophy we could have, along with myself coming second in the World Player of the Year award and the Ballon D'Or.


Now, however, came the next stage in my journey, a much tougher one than finals or championship run-ins. It was the beginning of a new legend, one on the sidelines as opposed to out there on the field.

It was time to step up to be the boss.

(based on the final stages of my Minnows No More BaP - http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...2-minnows-no-more-2015-story-bios-thread.html)​
 
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In the beginning...

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Here I was, fresh from City with coaching badges in hand. For now, however, it seemed it was going to be more difficult than I imagined to land that illusive first management job...


Until, that was, the middle of September, when...

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Having sacked their manager, and languishing in 15th in the 2. Bundesliga, Kaiserslautern came to my rescue. A team with history and a point to prove, a fantastic start for my new career as a manager.

Now, only time will tell as to whether it was the correct decision...​
 
If his temperament is anything like his namesake in my BaP, then this will be very interesting!

Good luck mate, will be following.
 
Kaiserslautern: A History

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Having won the Bundesliga as recently as 1998, Kaiserslautern are a team with a good history to them, and yet find themselves languishing in the 2nd tier of German football. After a run of 6 games without a win at the start of the season, former manager Kosta Runjiac was sacked after just less than a year in charge.

Along with their Bundesliga win, the club has won the DFB Pokal twice in the 90's, and boast former players such as Andreas Brehme and Miroslav Klose within their ex-ranks.​
 
Opening Update, September/October '14


So, Kaiserslautern. Sat in 15th when I took over in mid-September, the club has a good number of promising and decent players to hopefully drag us out of the slump that we found ourselves in.

So, with a change of tactics and an inspirational speech, we set out to push up the league...

Top Players:

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Simon Zoller
Loaned from Koln, Zoller has struggled in the games before my takeover. We'd hope that he can improve and lead the attacking line this season.


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Kerem Demirbay
Another loanee, from Hamburg this time. A quality prospect who I'll hope to tie to the club for the long term.


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Mateusz Klich
Finally, a player contracted to the club for over a season. Klich is a central player who we can build the side around for years to come.


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Jean Zimmer
Our first choice wing-back with a 5* potential, hopefully we can use him for the future - whether that's through playing for the club or selling for a large price.


Games:

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Table
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A huge month for us as a club. Climbing out from the bottom half of the table with 5 wins and a draw, we are now well and truly back in the running for playoffs and potentially, automatic promotion.

​
 
End of Season Report, '14:

Kaiserslautern:


So, in the 4 months since the mid-season break, the club continued to push up the league, keeping the pressure on leaders Red Bull Leipzig as Dusseldorf dropped from the pace. We had a 5-game spell where we struggled, not picking up a win against teams in the bottom half of the table that we really should've beat. In the end, however, it came down to the final day...


Games:

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And Then....

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Table:

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We managed it! ...Just. Coming down to the final day, after dropping points to Ingolstadt we needed a Red Bull loss... and they did just that at 3rd placed Furth, losing 3-1 on the day, meaning we claimed the title on superior goal difference, helped none the less by my player of the season. Not bad for a team that had 3 points after 6 league games in September.

Player of the Season:

Philipp Hofmann

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The 22 year old wasn't even on my top players list at the beginning of the season, and endured a tough start to my time as manager, but he soon hit into his stride, notching 25 league goals to break the Kaiserslautern record that had stood for over 30 years, including a 4 goal haul in a 6-0 win over Braunschweig. I get the feeling I might be fending off teams in the transfer window.​
 
So, with the first season down, what are your thoughts? Should I hang around at Kaiserslautern, at the risk of ending back in the 2. Bundesliga, or should I keep an ear to the ground about other jobs? How about players? Strengthening?

Off the game, how is the update style? Good, bad? Lacking in content? About right?

Hoping you're all enjoying the ride so far, and where it'll take me as a manager, no-one knows just yet...
 
I7IDanny said:
So, with the first season down, what are your thoughts? Should I hang around at Kaiserslautern, at the risk of ending back in the 2. Bundesliga, or should I keep an ear to the ground about other jobs? How about players? Strengthening?

Off the game, how is the update style? Good, bad? Lacking in content? About right?

Hoping you're all enjoying the ride so far, and where it'll take me as a manager, no-one knows just yet...
Click to expand...

Depends what type of career you want. If you wanna be a rep builder, maybe stay for 1-2 seasons, if you want to be a journeyman, keep an eye out.

The style is just right as well. :)
 
Breaking News:

Frank De Boer joins as Arsenal's new boss


AFC Ajax boss Frank De Boer was today named as the new manager of Arsenal, following Arsene Wenger leaving to join Juventus. De Boer led Ajax to the Eredivise title last year, and puts pressure on the board to replace him with an equally good boss.

Odds:

Ron Jans: 6-1
Daniele Del Conte: 8-1
Michael Laudrup: 12-1
Edwin Van Der Sar: 30-1​
 
News, Transfers and Pre-Season:

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Kaiserslautern are by no means a bad side, but given the choice between them, who would be losing Zoller and Demirbay at the end of this season, and the Eredivise champions? It was a no brainer, and I packed my bags to head for Amsterdam.

Despite this, however, it wouldn't be the last dealings I'll have with Kaiserslautern...

Team and Transfers:

Ajax have a very strong side for competing in the Eredivise, that's for sure, but the players still lack European experience, as well as some quality up top. I set out to remedy this.


Lucas Silva - Real Madrid - £4.4m

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Philipp Hofmann - Kaiserslautern - £3m

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Kerem Demirbay - Hamburg - £7m + £10m installments



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Guido Vadala - Boca Juniors - £5m

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John Guidetti - Manchester City - Free

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I decided to go straight for fixing the striker issue. Whilst Zivkovic is a quality youngster, Fischer, Sigbordsson and the other available strikers I had either lacked experience, fitness or just weren't plain good enough. So I did the thing any manager would do when outgoing... put a £3m release clause in the Hof's new contract days before leaving!

I also spotted Vadala and Silva both listed by their clubs, and moved quickly to snap them up, mainly for potential - and in Silva's case - European experience. Demirbay was incredible for me last season, only beaten by Hofmann to the player of the year award due to his goals and was one of my main targets no matter what.

Guidetti was a target of opportunity, more than anything else. He already has a quality record in the Eredivise, and when he was released by Manchester City, I moved fast to snap him up.

Friendlies:

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​
 
So, how do people think the window went down? Was I right to leave Kaiserslautern in your opinion? Lets get some discussion going on in the thread :)
 
Nothing against Kaiserslautern but I'd take Ajax everyday. 3M release clause in Hof's contract? Very sneaky. :p
 
August/September/October '15 Update

(apologies for the time between updates, been busy IRL job hunting)

My career as Ajax boss could not have got off to a better start. Even with a tough CL group of Chelsea, Leverkusen and Israeli side Irony Kiryat-Shmona, we still stand a chance of getting that 2nd place behind Chelsea and qualifying for the 2nd round. Domestically, we are flying - a higher GD than points accumulated with only two points dropped so far, and 4 or 5-0 wins are becoming the norm. Philipp Hofmann has been an inspired signing, whilst Guidetti and Zivkovic are also banging in the goals left, right and centre.

Matches:

Eredivisie:

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Dutch Cup & Super Cup

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Champions' League

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Tables

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Player of the Update

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With how the team has played in these 3 months, a number of players could've been selected for this, but as new signings go Hofmann has been incredible. Hitting two hattricks, including one on his debut has propelled him miles clear in the top scorers for the Eredivisie, along with getting two goals in Europe.​
 
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