The manager no one had ever heard of - Unemployment

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The manager no one had ever heard of

Follow me in this story as I try to become the best manager of all time, starting from the very bottom. I am Steen Justesen from Denmark, and I am starting this career with no coaching qualifications and almost no past playing experience. Also, I will start as unemployed​. My goal is to work my way up the ladder in the world of football, and become one of the best managers in history.

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Good luck mate. Im doing the same thing. Hopefully you wont get sacked as many times as me lol!
 
The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - June 2014

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As I was unemployed, my first goal was to get a job as manager at a club. I applied at various clubs in Sweden, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, getting rejected by most clubs straight away. But I got lucky, and Tondela, a club in the second division in Portugal, gave me a chance and offered me a contract for one year.

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The expectations of the board are to finish in a respectable league position, be competitive in the Taca da Liga, and reach the 4th round of the Taca de Portugal. I have almost no finances to work with, so I won't be able to sign any new players.
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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - June 2014

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Having arrived at my first club I first had a look at the squad. It's comfortable to see that the current squad is fairly balanced and probably no players have to be signed or sold. Our key player this season will most likely be our left winger, Nuno Santos. the 34 year old Portuguese may be a bit old, but he has the best stats of all the players and is also the captain at the club.

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I'm hoping to find another key player in striker Toze Marreco. His stats are fairly good and he should be our top goalscorer this season. I will be hoping to see Marreco and Santos leading the charge this season, carrying the team to a higher level. We haven't played any games yet though, so my opinion on the players may have changed after a few weeks.

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I will be using a simple 4-3-3 formation as our main tactic this season. In the defense we will have two central defenders and two full backs. The midfield will consist of a defensive midfielder, a ball-winning midfielder and a box-to-box midfielder. The front will have two wingers and an advanced forward. We will be trying to exploid the flanks using our full backs and wingers, and create chances by crossing the ball into the box of the opponent.

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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - July 2014

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We only had three friendly games in our pre-season before the season would begin. These friendlies were against lower league sides and were mainly to test the tactics and let the players show me why they deserve a spot in the first eleven.

Friendly: Anadia - Tondela
View attachment 329971Despite getting a goal against in the 2nd minute already, we played a good game and Marreco showed us why he is the first choice striker in the team, with two good goals. The only downside is that our captain and key player, Santos, picked up an injury and is out for 3 weeks.

Friendly: Tondela - InfestaView attachment 329970Again a comfortable win with three different goalscorers. We picked up another injury though, this time it is our right full back Alves, who will be out for 2 weeks.

Friendly: SJ Ver - Tondela
View attachment 329969A big win with four different goalscorers, and two goals from Marreco again. A good result to end our short pre-season with.

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Some great wins in Pre-Season there and always good to build up the confidence of the players!
 
The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - July 2014

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We didn't get any time to rest after the friendly matches, there were two more games for us on the schedule in July. These games were for the group stage of the Taca da Liga, of which the top two teams will progress to the knockout rounds. The expectation of the board was to be competitive in the Taca da Liga, personally I think it's possible to qualify for the next round.

Taca da Liga Group Stage: Aves - Tondela
View attachment 329917Aves was the better team, and I thought that we were going to get a lucky draw out of the match after a late goal of Marreco. But despite playing very defensive in the last few minutes, Aves managed to score another goal in the 92nd minute, leaving us with no points and my first defeat in my first official match for Tondela.

Taca da Liga Group Stage: Tondela - Freamunde
View attachment 329910The second match against Freamunde went a lot better. They had an early lead but we managed to turn the tide before halftime. In the second half we dominated and scored two more goals.

Player of the Month July 2014:
View attachment 329894Marreco scored 6 goals in the 5 matches in July, getting a high average rating and being important for team.
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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - August 2014

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Taca da Liga Group Stage: Trofense - Tondela
View attachment 329836We secured a very late draw, and how. A penalty in the 92nd minute keeps us in the race for a spot in the next round of the Taca da Liga. Sadly we did lose three players this match due to injuries. Right winger Carvalhas, left winger Piojo and striker Marreco are all out for at least a week.

Segunda Divisao: Farense - Tondela
View attachment 329821We kick off the first league game of the season with a convincing 0-2 victory. It's also good to see that when a few players are injured, we still have enough players with goalscoring qualities.

Taca da Liga Group Stage: Tondela - Uniao Madeira
View attachment 329792We get a win in our final match in the group stage of the Taca da Liga thanks to right winger Batatinha and striker Joel, who also both scored in the previous match.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Aves
View attachment 329783I was hoping to have revenge on Aves, after beating us in the Taca da Liga, but instead we played a very poor game. Only Piojo, who was brought on as a substitute, seemed to be trying to make plays and create chances. His goal was well deserved and he will certainly get more chances to impress me, despite playing in the same position as our captain Santos.

Segunda Divisao: FC Porto B - Tondela
View attachment 329780After the disappointing match against Aves, we played a very good game against the B team of Porto, in which our wingers Carvalhas and Piojo impressed the most.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Maritimo B
View attachment 329779I'd rather not say anything about this game as it was just a pure embarrassment against Maritimo B, who didn't have a single point yet before this game.

Segunda Divisao: Oriental - Tondela
View attachment 329775The score might make it look like a close game, but we had control most of the match, except for in the last ten minutes in which we almost gave our 1-4 lead away. But a win is a win, and that's what counts.

Player of the Month August 2014:
View attachment 329764In a month with a lot of matches and injuries, Pica is one of the few players that hasn't missed a game yet, and performed well in all matches.

Taca da Liga Group Stage:
View attachment 329755Sadly we didn't make it past the group stage, only losing out on a spot to the next round by one goal difference.

Segunda Divisao:
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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - September 2014

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I'm not sure if I should be happy or concerned about this. If we get taken over we might get rid of our financial problems at the club, but the new owner might also decide to sack me and appoint a new manager.​
 
The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - September 2014

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Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Sporting B
View attachment 329553A reasonable draw and Piojo is making it really difficult for me as he is performing really well while he would normally be the second choice left winger after our captain Santos.

Segunda Divisao: Ac. Viseu - Tondela
View attachment 329551It was a close match, but we basically gave the match away in just ten minutes and lost against our rivals, which our board and fans aren't very happy with.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Braga B
View attachment 329549Two early goals helped us towards a comfortable win against the B side of Braga, despite the unlucky goal against.

Taca de Portugal 2nd Round: Ovarense - Tondela
View attachment 329546The expection of the board is to reach the 4th round of the Taca de Portugal, we take a good step towards that goal with a good win against lower league club Ovarense.

Player of the Month September 2014:
View attachment 329545While our captain Santos was injured, Piojo stepped up and showed us how good he is by scoring 3 goals in September. I've decided to keep Piojo playing as left winger because I think he is one of our best players at the moment. Our captain Santos will be playing as left back while Piojo takes his position.

Segunda Divisao:
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A slow start to the month but picked up a couple of good results at the end! only early on yet so anything can happen! Keep it up!
 
The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - October 2014

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View attachment 329402A month ago we've been told that the chairman was looking to sell the club. Now after a month of not hearing anything we recieve a message that a transfer embargo is placed, and a takeover might be close.

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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - October 2014

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Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Sp. Covilha
View attachment 328645A good game and a deserved win.

Segunda Divisao: Portimonense - Tondela
View attachment 328644We were completely run over and there wasn't a single moment where I thought we had any chance of winning.

Segunda Divisao: Olhanense - Tondela
View attachment 328643It was a balanced game and a draw would have been fair, but a goal in the 90th minute costs us two points.

Taca de Portugal 3rd Round: Leixoes - Tondela
View attachment 328642The expectation of the board was to at least reach the 4th round, but we were already behind by three goals after just 25 minutes and we didn't manage to turn the game around.

Segunda Divisao: Freamunde - Tondela
View attachment 328641After three losses in a row in three away games we manage to get a win again thanks to a late goal.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Uniao Madeira
View attachment 328639Our first home game after four straight away games, ends in a win after again a very late goal.

Player of the Month October 2014:
View attachment 328638I think Piojo again deserves our Player of the Month award after 4 goals in 6 games this month.

Segunda Divisao:
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The manager no one had ever heard of
Season 1 - November 2014

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A takeover might just have been what we needed to get out of our financial problems. I just hoped that the new owner doesn't sack me though, if the takeover would happen.

But a few days later, I recieved the following message. At least I don't have to worry about my job now.

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The manager no one had ever heard of
November 2014

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Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Trofense
View attachment 328147We would have deserved to win, but I'm content with a draw.

Segunda Divisao: Oliveirense - Tondela
View attachment 328145The game didn't start well with an own goal of our goalkeeper, and a lot more goals were scored that match. In the end it was a balanced game and the draw was a fair result.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Beira-Mar
View attachment 328144A good win, and the most important for me is the clean sheat. We are now also unbeaten for five games.

Segunda Divisao: Tondela - Benfica B
View attachment 328143Benfica B is one of the better teams in the league so I am happy with the draw, even though a win could have been possible.

Segunda Divisao: Santa Clara - Tondela
View attachment 328142Our fourth draw this month. That's only four points out of these four games which isn't a lot, but at least we're picking up some points.

Player of the Month:
View attachment 328140Amar has been very consistent this season so far, and has also scored some goals this month. He is also chosen as the Player of the Month in the league this month.

Segunda Divisao:
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7th place - looking solid so far, especially as SLB B can't get promoted so you don't have to worry about them (I think?)
 
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