Career Globe Trotting (COMPLETED)

[Phisch]

I have been a fan of FMM for the last few years since migrating from the Amiga Champ Man series as a youth...Starting off with the 95(?) version all those moons ago...god I feel old.

I have frequented the Vibe Forums for the last few years as a happy lurker but have been drawn into posting a career by reading some of the brilliant ones posted this year for 21...so please be kind!

A simple, “let’s see how I do” challenge seemed dull so I wanted a little quirk, I decided to see if I could manage in all corners of the (FMM21) globe. I have England, Australia, Canada and Argentina my aim is to manage in the top league in all 4 countries whilst accumulating as many miles between clubs I manage as possible.

A round trip (According to Google maps) of a measly 27,767 Miles.

I decided to begin unemployed to see where the game would take me…which happened to be the glorious Braintree…no not the PayPal Company based in Chicago but the Essex town…unfortunately for me as a huge fan of the Chicago Bears (NFL).

Thankfully the Essex team decided to take a punt on me an offered me the job…lets see how this goes!!!

Start of season expectations were fairly low and I was only expected to attain a safe mid-table league position and looking through the small part-time squad that is all I was expecting myself!

The first port of call was a striker, I like to grow the youth and needed someone to lead the line in my 4-5-1ish formation I had planned out for the year. I have seen this young man touted on here by a few as a gem for the lower leagues and his strength, pace and aerial ability stood out, so welcome to Essex, Jordan!

My next priority was to find a CM to grab hold of a game for me, not an easy task in VNS but I liked the look of this guy, Welcome to Essex Connor

After a few more arrivals and the use of the Loan players available the season was underway…of the 4 friendlies we managed to lose 3 and draw 1…not a huge surprise as they were all against league teams, so I wasn’t too concerned.

The league season started off with a 3-3 draw against Oxford City, the defense not filling me with confidence off the bat!

8 League points in October and we were in the playoff positions, but 2 consecutive 0-1 defeats to Havent & Waterlooville saw us out of the FA Cup in the 4^th Qualifying round and drop a little further down the league table.

The only consistency through to the end of 2020 was our inconsistency and by mid-January we were still sat in 8^th, just one spot outside the playoff places…

but Jordan was off to a flier, 12 league goals and 15 goals in total in 18 games, what a result!!

And then…..

I brought in a Loan striker to cover the lay off in the hopes there wouldn’t be a drop in production

And boy did he not disappoint

February and march were good months, unbeaten

And then, the return of the Jordan…

The unbeaten run continued right up until April 3^rd, when I paid the price for not having a keeper on the bench when he was carted off injured after only 8 Minutes….

So at the three quarter stage of the season we were sitting pretty in the playoff positions with little chance of breaking the hold Dorking had on the championship, but we were the 3^rd top scorers and had joint best defense, I was happy with how we were performing.

End of season table…

Through round one of the playoffs after a scrappy 1-0 win at home, we lost in the Semi-Final…another season in the VNS beckons

A great Season for Jordan though

#

Onto season 2 and hopefully a continued progression towards those top flight leagues, it is looking like a slog to get into the other 3 corners but hopefully once my reputation increases a move to more sunny climates...or Canada might be on the cards! It would be nice to get off the mark next season, as after 1 season I am still at ground zero, with 0 miles travelled.

 

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by Phisch

[Rich]

Brilliant post mate, this should be an enjoyable one to follow and a good first season, good luck and look forward to seeing how you do 😁

[broodje kip]

Should be an interesting one. I love Braintree hope you do too

[Mr Tree]

nice, good luck!

[Phisch]

SEASON 2

A few new faces joined in the off season in an attempt to improve the foundation of the team, hopefully we can improve on last seasons performance.

 The first few games resulted in far too many draws but a definite improvement on last season

And after 17 leagues game we were sat comfortably within the playoff positions

Then the dream happened, an early Christmas present from League 2…Barrow came a knocking, Merry Christmas to me!! 

151km which is 94 miles, not a bad start

 

I was tasked with the impossible, keep Barrow in the football league, a difficult task, with a limited budget and poor squad, but we battled on and with 6 games remaining were 3 points off the relegation places….and then…..Oh my…a proper team (no offense Barrow fans!)

An eventful season, two new clubs and some additional mileage to the pot

Another 209miles in the bag, bringing the total Globe Trott to 303 miles.

Now the new manager of Plymouth, within a season we have gone from VNS to a safe mid-table League 2 team…but it was a rough end to the season, perhaps the grass really isn’t greener, even if the kit is!

For the record, Braintree didn't manage to gain the Promotion they were in the position to achieve and Barrow didn't manage to avoid relegation...it was t he correct decision but boy does season three look difficult, here's hoping for some more miles in the pot!

[Phisch]

SEASON 3

A total rebuild is needed, this Plymouth team do not have the players to match my formation and style so there are a lot of new faces for this season

including a familiar one from season one, but this time on a permanent basis!

Hopefully he has a similar impact for me on the south coast as he did at Braintree!

The season got off to a brilliant start and we are sat atop the League table at (the obligatory) 17 game update!

Josh was struggling with injury but it made no difference to the performance, and 34 games in we were still sat in the lofty height of 1^st in the league, but the team performances had really dropped off, especially compared to the Braintree team which had no issues find the back of the net.

But then everything went wrong, the final stretch of the season proved too much and the results tailed off, in  true FMM style we plunged from 1^st to 5^th and had to settle for a place in playoffs. Tranmere stood between Plymouth and League 1…

And we were soundly beaten, 1-3 on aggregate over the two legs…I prefer League 2 anyway.

But that is another season without any miles on the clock, not so much as a job offer, hopefully some consistency will improve my reputation and help move things along lets see what season 4 has to offer, we are still at 303 miles after 3 seasons, an average of 100 miles a season…

[Phisch]

SEASON 4

At the start of season 4 my overall performance wasn’t looking great, the tactics (or my ability) seemed to have been hampering progress,

so a switch from the fairly dull 4-5-1ish to a move conventional 4-2-2-2 had to be made, Josh had been struggling with form and was certainly not a target man, hopefully things will improve and another season atop League 2 will speed up the travels a little.

Well things certainly got more interesting and the goals started to flow for everyone

Some giant killing cup runs and selling off a couple of players boosted the coffers and allowed a steady back bone of the team, the now obligatory 17 game update isn’t bad, sat in 2^nd and with a game in hand on the team in 1^st, the season looks productive!

My continuous job hunt was hurting my loyalty rating and the board were starting to get pis…..annoyed!

A trip to the quarter finals of the Carabao cup and strong league performance kept them happy though.

The return game against Oldham (6-6 earlier in the season) resulted in another goal fest, but this time with a more positive result…obviously proving the progress we have made throughout the season….probably!

My first trophy, a win on penalties against Fulham Reserves gifted the Papa Johns trophy to the South Coast…reserve teams shouldn’t be in the competition anyway!!

The traditional End of season slump dropped us out of the automatic promotion positions and set up a playoff Semi-Final with…Grimsby….well if we lose I wont be as disappointed! Thankfully we didn’t, I did feel a little bit bad though, as a Grimsby fan it was hard to watch…

This set up a playoff final against Scunthorpe…hopefully the swear filter doesn’t ban the team name!

Josh was flying, he had a fantastic season, he belongs in a two man strike partnership

But then...a job offer...

Newport have just been relegated from League one, it would mean another season in League 2…I did say I liked it there…and the point of this career is to earn miles, normally I wouldn’t touch them with a bargepole (I carry one with me at all times for such an occasion) but couldn’t resist the miles…

All 97 of them, taking us to 400 miles…in 4 seasons…still 100 miles a season average…this was a really bad idea.

Oh well…nothing I can do about it now…lets see what happens in season 5

[Rich]

Another good season mate and massive welcome to Wales, you won’t be dissapointed 😁

[Phisch]

So after a really productive day at work....here is season 5

SEASON 5

Oh Good lord what have I done, Newport are a mess, not worth the miles!

A lot of moves in the transfer market in an attempt to make a purse out of a sows ear…or whatever the saying is…

A few semi decent signings have helped us stay out of the relegation places for the first 14 game, somehow?

The force of the Rage Quit is strong in season 5, slightly diminished by…

Surely Port Vale will pose fewer problems, surely it was the lack of funds/quality players at Newport and not my inability to make the &*^*& thing work…right? Apologies to the Welsh contingent who have been reading for my reduced stay in Wales, it was lovely but the team were sh…ocking!  

On the bright side another 106 miles in the bag, taking me up to 506 in 5 seasons…not too bad

The obligatory 17 (18 actually because I forgot!) update isn’t particularly positive, but at least I wont have a relegation on my CV!

Oh….

With the season coming to an end and Vale being sat comfortably outside the playoff places and in no danger of troubling those team that were…

Nope, no way, not gonna fall for that again…and for the first time in my managerial career, I rejected a job offer…it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside

The final league table for season 5 (is that all!?) wasn’t great to read…

Yes that is Newport 1 place above me…the players I brought in were obviously just that good….

But the incumbent loan striker excelled in the 4-5-1 I had to revert back to

I no longer like league 2….

End of season 5 update

MILES TRAVELLED = 506

[Phisch]

SEASON 6

A familiar face returns….to the opposition

At least he went to a good club!  

So…many….signings…

The pick of the bunch were these two (I hope!). They will at least allow me to revert back to the

4-2-2-2 that helped Plymouth ascend to the dizzy heights of League 1

September was a good month…

And the obligatory 18…er…17 game update looks sooo pretty!

But not as pretty as the halfway point update

After the usual end of season slump the championship goes down to the final game of the season, We win we go up as champions, lose and we could hand the title to Blackpool, the final game of the season is against….Newport…oh no

Woooooo, League 1 here we come.

And a nice award to complete the season!!

No more miles on the clock though…oh well here is to season 7

[broodje kip]

Nice season there. KIU

[Phisch]

SEASON 7

A few new faces to help keep up with those League 1 high fliers

As well as a familiar face…Josh is back…and a steal for only £70k!

He really struggled to get going though….hehe

The good start continued, we were sat 4^th in the league after 7 games, Josh had 5 goals in 9 games!

And then…

Canada Baby…oh am I looking forward to snow, Moosess….Meese…Mise…Big fat dear with massive horny things…, Hockey and Poutine…actually perhaps not Poutine…I have never tried it but chips, gravy and Cheese curds just doesn’t appeal… No offence Canada

3,345 miles to add to the 506 already clocked up, take me to a whopping 3,851 miles in 7 seasons!

The joy of managing in Canada already is that there is only one league, so I have already managed in the top league, which means I am a quarter of the way through the challenge…would be nice to win the league though!

The Canadian Greek awaiting me in Toronto certainly made the transition easier, although he is looking to leave for bigger and better things, the £££ would definitely help!

And in my first season in charge on the freezing cold shores of Lake Ontario….

And then Blackpool came calling…a trip back to the UK…another 3,000 miles…but after less than 1 full season in Canada…I had to turn them down, as much as the miles would look great moving into season 8, Blackpool are sitting bottom of League 1 and I have been in this position before, sorry Blackpool I am going to have a full season in Canada…or at least part of another season!

 

[Phisch]

SEASON 7.5 (it will make sense shortly!)

With little to no money and Canadian work permits like rocking horse droppings the new faces were (very) limited

But heading into the new season the wonders of the Canadian youth system dug me out of a hole!!

Then just a few games into the season, Shrewsbury ask the question, the season (my Season 7) has finished, they are sat 16^th in League 1…it would mean a full pre-season…I have started the Canadian Season undefeated and are sat top of the CPL….arrrrgggghhhhh What do I do?

I have to take the miles this time…I have to, it’s 3,448 miles back to blighty which takes me to 7,299 in 7ish seasons…and I have ticked Canada and its massive deer (Moose, the plural of which is….Moose it’s a plurale tantum Dontchaknow!) and cheesy gravy chips off the list!

Now we move to season 8...again...sort of

[Phisch]

SEASON 8

Happy New Year one and all, I took a bit of a break over the festive period to spend time with my house mates...although my wife hates it when I call her and the children that!

A few new faces to start the season off, including a couple of familiar faces from my time at Port Vale…

And we’re off to a semi-decent start

The obligatory 18ish game review and we are nicely positioned for a playoff spot, which would be a great achievement

The obligatory mid-season slump dropped us like a stone and there was a brief moment of panic as we plummeted towards the foot of the table before results picked up again and we headed back towards those illustrious playoff spots and with 12 games remaining we were on the charge

6-3 Vs Gillingham (2^nd in table)

With 2 games remaining we still had an outside chance of the playoffs…very far outside...so far outside that the inside looked like a dot

But a 2-2 draw in the penultimate game soon finished off any of those thoughts…a safe mid-table finish…could have been worse. Season 8 wasn’t a disaster but I really need to motor up these leagues now, perhaps time to stick with the Shrews for a few seasons, I may have been blinded by the miles until now, getting into the premiership and heading over the Argentina & Australia (in that order) are now the goals. The miles will come in time…Season 9 here we come!

[Rich]

Loved the intro 😂

I’m sure next season you will mount a good push for promotion, good luck 😁

[Phisch]

SEASON 9

A decent start to the season is capped off with a nice giant killing in the Carabao cup against Championship side Stoke

At this point I took a little break , I wanted to attempt the Spurs Badge challenge and spent a bit of time trying to come up with a formation that would score some goals…The badge attempts didn’t go too well…and I got further side tracked with a Grimsby Town save to try and cheer me up regarding the state of affairs at my home town club…anyway the formation was too tempting to try here…soo

Things started off fairly well with 3 wins on the bounce, but the strikers were having a ‘mare, they were suffering from the Emile Heskey disease…loads of chances but 0 goals….over the next 3 games the team created almost 60 (SIXTY) chances, scoring just 6 goals and only 1 came from a striker…I was dying inside!

Then came a chance for redemption, an FA Cup tie against League 2 opposition, a goal for each of the starting strikers in a comfortable 3-0 victory…and a chance to stroke their heads, a quick “Well Played” to each of them increased their morale…and 6 goals between them in the next 2 league games…hurrah!

The 18 game update saw us sat comfortably in 4^th…will we manage to overcome the mid-season slump and score a playoff spot…or dare I say it…a top 2 finish and the lofty heights of the Championship!!!!!!

At the turn of the year all was looking Rosey, Rotherham were on fire but we are averaging 3 goals per game in the league with the new formation

And we absolutely hammered Liverpool (*whispers* Reserves) in the papa johns thingy…resulting in an extra £130k being made available which was put towards the Youth System!

The mid season slump involved 3 2-2 draws including games against the teams in 1^st & 4^th so not totally disastrous…yet

A FA Cup game against Premier league Norwich tested the team and a 2-0 defeat showed we aren’t totally horrible, hopefully a sign that we could hold our own should the promotion happen…fingers crossed!!!

The Championship clubs are starting to take notice…

thank you for the offer Exeter but I will have to say no this time...however much I might enjoy putting more miles on the clock!!

A nice start to the end of season party, we thumped Arsenal (Reserves) in the Papa Johns thingy final for some silverware!

And we are within catching distance of Rotherham, what was once a 13 point gap is down to 1 point with 1 game remaining

As you can see from the league table all of our league defeats came in the first 18 games of the season, the new tactics have been a revelation…just need to hope and pray we can do it one last time and sneak into that top spot!

Spoiler

 

BOOOM! Championship here we come!

Probably my most enjoyable season to date on this save...roll on Season 10!!!

 

Thank you for reading...Not quite as rivetting as some of the other careers I know...probably not as experienced and talented as some of the other managers here but I am enjoying my first Vibe career!  

[Phisch]

So here we are, season 10, in the Championship…I only brought in a few players to shore up the midfield and a Winger who had been released by Man Utd…my first big spend on a Scottish CM…lets see how the new formation holds up against stronger teams!

The big teams are now sniffing around the young players I have brought in though, the £££ certainly helps!

It is apparent that the players I brought in were way to strong for League 1, the first 10 games went WWLWDWLWDW not a bad start to the season at all…I am still getting fun games like this though

The start of the season was going pretty well

I did have to bring in an additional striker on loan from Man Utd to help out, I really needed to strengthen the squad more before jumping into the Championship…however the 18(which started out as 17 and has now drifted to 19) game update makes for pretty reading!

And Byrad (my loanee) has been pulling up many a tree (the other 2 are CM and the other striker!!!)

We be rolling….(assuming I have the lingo correct I am too old to speak like that but thought it sounded good!!)

And at the turn of the year the impossible is looking…well possible…

Early January and an FA Cup match against Norwich…last season they thumped us 2-0 (is that a thumping!?) this season…

Looks like we are ready for the big leagues!

Then in the next round a real test, Liverpool, sat 2^nd in the Premiership…surely not

Surely so!!!

After defeating Barnsley in the Quarter finals we were brought back down to earth by Leicester

And with a game to spare this happened…

1 point off the team in 1^st with a game to play, surely not again…

Spoiler

Premiership here we come, back to back promotions!!!

Oooh a new ground…and with a fabulous name!

Newcastle came knocking…

But with 2 games left they were…struggling

So it’s a no from me…sorry…it would have made the naming of that Stadium a little awkward!!

The loan striker worked wonders, the goal-den boot!!!

Oh no…oh no, oh no no no no no…

Argentina….the Premier League…it would be another of the leagues ticked off and a bucket ton of miles…

6898 miles to be precise, so…

Argentina here we come…

Argentina

Canada

Australia

England

And a total of 14,197 miles out of the 27,767 it takes to go around the FMM21 world…over half way!

Hello season 11…

[Phisch]

SEASON 11

So we begin our first season in Argentina with some squad evaluation…they suck, the youth system however….does not!

Smarra goes straight into the first 11 on the left wing.

Hopefully the season is as straight forward  as the friendlies

A familiar name from Barcelona B falls into my lap for a cool £2m to help shore up the defense

I’m not sure how long the striker will last though…2!? 2 Stamina…I have more than that…probably!

A few other new faces came in on the cheap to bolster the squad

The tactic which propelled the Shrews into the Premiership works in Argentina…

And the media LOVE us!

And by the time the 18 game update came around I had forgotten to screenshot again so here is a 19 game update (AGAIN!)

The Mid-season transfer window caused me some problems as European teams began to snatch away my best players, including the first and second choice GK!?!

The tactic combined with good old FMM engine still provided some wonderful games that didn’t even nearly result in my throwing things…this could also be due to me constantly attempting to play the youth...but I am not comfortable taking any of the blame so we will stick with the first 2 reasons!

But with 5 games still to go…

The switch in tactic has now taken Shrewsbury from L1 to the Premiership with back to back promotions and won the Argentinian League at a canter…whoop!

By the end of the season…

It was easy, a great season…the cup competitions take some getting used to though, they span over 2 seasons, the Copa Sudamericana began at the end of this season and will complete at the beginning of season 12…the same for the Copa Argentina…good fun though!

Roll on season 12 

[Phisch]

SEASON 12

A few replacements for an aging squad and we were off to a flying start…

A brief check on my stats which have improved significantly over the last 3 seasons…

Annnd then….

Well G’day mate….welcome to Aus…

Another 7,338 miles and another country ticked off..

 

Australia

Canada

Argentina

England

 

A total of 21,535 miles means the return trip to England will take us over the 25k mark and as long as we land back in the Premiership the challenge will be completed….as long as this doesn’t go horribly wrong!!!

Well  the squad sucks a bag of erm…..Richards….no offense to any Richards reading!

And attracting players to Australia isn’t easy, this may not be a long stay….but hopefully things continue on the upward and we can get Western Sydney Warriors some shiny cups!

Before I have even played a game as Western Sydney, there were a few other opportunities…

They really liked me in Argentina…but alas I have to play some games in Australia…that would be a little bit sneaky!

They even liked me in Wales…but again I had to refuse

And the season was off…with a victory against our nearest rivals

Before Salford came knocking….

Back in League 1….nope sorry Salford

Then Ipswich came calling…

after half a season in Australia….

They were in little danger of relegation but it wasn’t pretty…then nor was the Australian league…so…

10,486 miles back home to the UK on the final leg…in hindsight playing in the Premiership with Shrewsbury would have been faster, but we live and learn…a total of 32,021 miles…and hopefully only 2 more full seasons left and I will have managed in each of the 4 corners…and travelled the globe…but lets not get ahead of ourselves…got to get Ipswich there first!

The squad was small…and old, it was a struggle but by the end of the season we were safe and managed a return of 2.5 goals a game over the last 16 games…not bad…now for the rebuild and season 13…hopefully not unlucky!

 

[Phisch]

SEASON 13

Another lucky break with the youth system, although none strong enough to drop straight into the first team

So it was off to the transfer market…and big time!

A couple of faces from teams past, Shrewsbury & Banfield gave up some gems which should help get that illustrious Premiership managers spot!

The start of the season went well, some strong results saw us sat top after 8 games

And then, out of nowhere…

A Premiership job offer….

With that the challenge is complete, I have managed in each of the top leagues in the four corners of the FMM21 map, clocked up over 32,000 miles, played 600 games (exactly) and had loads of fun…Australia and Canada were tough, you have to rely on the locals mainly as bringing in foreign talent is next to impossible due to the level and work permits, Argentina is brilliant I loved managing there for the first time and would definitely go back for future careers. For my first Vibe career I have really enjoyed it and might even look to get onto the badge leader boards…possibly!

Thank you for reading!

 

[Rich]

Well done mate 😁