Career Unemployed to Legend AKA Journeyman

[forbes5]

Good Morning Vibers, 

Since my days of playing championship manager 01/02 on my dads old computer I've always loved the idea of starting unemployed and becoming the most successful manager in history. 

However for whatever reason I have never attempted the challenge, it's one of the most simple careers and one that's a favourite of football manager lovers worldwide. 

NOW THE TIME HAS COME! 

As you'll see we load English leagues, Scottish, Dutch and French. A strange combination but this is based on my personal preferences of where I would like to manage. 

I start of with a local reputation, making the save as realistic as possible, but who will give us our first crack at the whip!? 

Being Scottish I feel it's sensible and less risk for me to start my career in League Two in my home nation. The board expect promotion in my first season and that has to be the goal as I aim to impress the footballing world. 

 

 

[forbes5]

FIRST TRANSFER WINDOW 

As you will see we sign 7 players letting one player leave. I'd preferably have sold more as we have a lot of deadwood but because we are at the lowest of the low it's difficult to find buyers. 

KEY PLAYERS THIS SEASON

Remie Streete, his stats are incredible for this level and he will be a great signing. He is still young and will hopefully improve despite the fact we are only allowed to have one coach! 

Nick Ross, he doesn't look like anything special but at this level he has key stats to play as my advanced playmaker, our best central midfield player by far. 

David Goodwillie, a Scottish international as recently as 2010, he is our best player and one that wouldn't look out of place in the Scottish Premiership. He was already at the club and is only really at this level because of his behaviour in real life, he was charged with rape which has led me to call him Badwillie instead. 

Lewis Nyatanga, 34 caps with Wales, a player with great experience and will slot in well beside Streete in defence. I don't see us conceding many goals with this pairing. 

 

 

[Dhxn]

Good luck!!!

[forbes5]

3 hours ago, Dhxn said:

Good luck!!!

Thanks mate 

[forbes5]

SEASON ONE REVIEW 

As this job was my first step into management it was important I started well and improved my reputation. 

You will see below that I done exactly that, only one loss all season and ending the league campaign with 99 points and a goal difference of +76 

UNEXPECTED HERO

Dan Heffernan was signed as a backup striker to Badwillie and ended up making the role his own playing as a target man. 

75 goals & 20 assists in 38 games is incredible for a 30 year old who hasn't achieved anything in his career till now! 

HOW DID OUR PREDICTED KEY PLAYERS DO? 

They all played a key role in our success as you will see below. 

Badwillie is after a move to a bigger club so expect to see him depart shortly. 

BEST RESULTS

We scored 7 goals in 3 different fixtures and twice against Peterhead, they'll be glad to see the back of us after our promotion.

[MikeeDUFC]

Mind sharing tactics? Some very impressive results. How did you do cup wise?

[forbes5]

44 minutes ago, MikeeDUFC said:

Mind sharing tactics? Some very impressive results. How did you do cup wise?

Ofcourse mate, I'll share my tactic in the next update. 

Second round of all the cups, priority for me was promotion so wasn't too fussed, will be hoping for a cup run next season! 

[forbes5]

TACTICS TO SUCCESS

As you will see at Clyde we play a 4-2-3-1 formation, probably the most popular formation in world football at the moment.

We play an attacking mentality, nothing crazy here, everything kept pretty basic. 

The idea is that we have a solid back four who are solely there to defend. This allows the "top 4" the TM, AP, IF, W to focus on the attack. 

The two BBM give the time a balance and they will be able to support the attack as well as get back for defensive play. 

The run at the defence command has been deployed to as I like our team to really test the opposition and force them into mistakes. 

 

 

[forbes5]

SEASON TWO - NEW LOOK CLYDE

As you'll know we are now playing our football in the Scottish League One, our squad was not good enough for the jump in division therefore I've made wholesale changes.

The majority of the players I sold were backups last season, we now have a much younger group of players with a squad average age of 24. 

David Goodwillie is the only player sold worth mentioning, he was after a move to a bigger club and I couldn't stand in his way of a move to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership. The fee was put straight into our wage budget as we raided the free transfer market. 

TRANSFERS OUT

TRANSFERS IN

KEY SIGNINGS 

He looks like an excellent player at this level and is still only 17. He could be a player that moves with me when I decide to change clubs. Loving the 20 teamwork stat! 

He will be understudy to Heffernan this season and at 16 years old has a lot of potential. Similarly to Strachan I'm expecting big things from him. 

He has been signed to play the IF role in my side, replacing Goodwillie. Excellent pace and strength, hoping his finishing stats improve with the right training. 

He will be deployed as a winger on the right hand side of my tactic, looking to get the best out of his crossing and dribbling stats. 

I'm fairly happy with my transfer business and hope we can pick up where we left of last season. 

 

[ManLikeRobbieBrady]

Only saw this now, well done mate, good luck in League 1. Loving the signings!

[forbes5]

7 hours ago, ManLikeRobbieBrady said:

Only saw this now, well done mate, good luck in League 1. Loving the signings!

Thanks for the support mate! 

[forbes5]

PICKED UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF 

As you'll see the mass squad rotation has worked it's magic and we sit top of League One against the odds! 12 games in so still a long way to go. 

We experienced some big wins a long the way as we continue to score a barrowload of goals. Heffernan on 25 already with new 16 year old signing Richie Young helping himself to 15 goals so far. 

My success as a rookie manager isn't going unnoticed however..... 

stay tuned.....

[forbes5]

JOB INTERVIEW - Hamilton Academical 

Chairman Ronnie McDonald has invited me along for an interview to take over his Scottish Championship side Hamilton. 

They currently sit in 5th place having been relegated from the Scottish Premiership last season. 

Hamilton are well known for there successful youth academy with players such as James McCarthy, James Mcarthur and Greg Docherty coming through their ranks. 

It’s changed days for them and they now possess an ageing squad with many players having a retirement date set. The opportunity to rejuvenate the side and bring in some quality young players could spell the end of my Clyde love affair. 

What will I do? You’re soon to find out. 

 

[forbes5]

NEW JOB - HALF SEASON TAKEOVER 

I decided this opportunity was too good to turn down. If I get Hamilton promoted this season, I can go from a Scottish League Two manager to Scottish Premiership in the space of two seasons.

TACTICS 

I'm going to be playing the same 4-2-3-1 which gave me so much success at Clyde, although I was keen to try out the defensive forward role in place of the target man we previusly used. 

KEY PLAYERS 

I signed Goncalves on a free transfer as soon as I joined, he has experience of playing in the scottish premiership. He will be used in the inside forward role but can also be used as a striker, his preferred postion. 

Ali Crawford is a great player at this level and ideal for my AP role. Was surprised he remained with the club after there relegation the previous season. 

Rojano has been doing well in the defensive forward role. Accidentally stumbled across this although he may not have the relevant stats its working wonders. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2018 by forbes5

[forbes5]

PROMOTION TO THE PREMIERSHIP

As I took over halfway through the season I wanted to keep this update short and sweet. We were far from amazing and I won the league with a points tally of 69. I don't think I've ever been a champion with a points tally that low but I'll take it. 

We have 4 players in the team of the week including Ali Crawford who ended the campaign with player of the year.

I won both manager of the year award, interestingly the two previous winners were managers of Celtic in the premiership, Brendan Rodgers and Gus Hiddink. Hamilton must not have been expected to bounce straight back to the top flight. 

 

Performance of the Season 

Can't fault an 8-0 win against a team I considered our bogey team before this match. 

OTHER LEAGUE WINNERS

I left Clyde in a strong position and they done me proud by gaining promotion to the Championship. 

Liverpool finally winning a premier league title and also a champions league trophy!

Manager Profile

My profile is very poor at the moment, suggesting I'm good with my transfers but an unloyal money blower. 

Liking the 73.12 win percentage as well as 3.09 goals per match. 

I'm looking forward to the Premiership, televised matches and an opportunity to showcase my abilities. 

[forbes5]

HAMILTON IN THE PREMIERSHIP

We were predicted to be relegated but managed to finish 2nd behind Celtic, overachieving my own expectations! 

I expected more of a challenge from Rangers, Celtic finished 16 points ahead of us which reflects the financial gap between us. 

We also manage to score 100 goals making us the highest scoring side in the league.

We suffered a major blow on the last day of the season, losing in the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen. This meant I experienced my first trophyless season as a football manager. 

TRANSFER ACTIVITY 

I talked about transforming our old retiring squad into a young ambitious side and this is reflected in the signings I made.

I raided the English Premier League sides for young loanees and brought in some young Scottish talent to go with it. 

I've noticed we are still seen as a small club and my players are all after moves to bigger clubs, slightly too ambitious maybe! This saw Lyon and Rojano sold for reletively low transfer fees. I didn't want to have an unhappy squad but in future I'll negotiate for bigger fees. 

KEY PLAYERS 

We see four players claim a place in the team of the year. 

Ali Crawford the pick of the bunch with 13 goals and 23 assists. 

HUGE RESULTS 

DANIEL AGYEI

Excellent loan signing who played as our lone striker in the advanced forward role.

He scored 52 and assisted 14 in 43 matches.

I finished the season winning both manager of the year awards just as I did the previous season

[forbes5]

WHAT’S NEXT?

By finishing second last season we go into the Europa League qualifiers. This is my first opportunity to test myself on this stage and one I can’t walk away from. 

My next career move will be to manage in either the French or Dutch league but I feel I have unfinished business at Hamilton.

[DIRECTFX]

Good job... nice to see a lower league career not always big clubs...