Owners

[Dirty Bird]

Haha that's so cool - imagine being a student and telling your uni mates you got to rub shoulders and swap shirts with big name stars.

How'd you come into possession of Rinaldi's shirt?

Forest Green's status was semi pro before Vince (owner) came in, he then turned all the players and coaching staff full time employees.

FC United have came out and said if we reach the 5th tier we're turning pro.
1 more promotion and we're there!

 

[Dirty Bird]

My goodness there's some serious text in this thread

Makes you mods actually have to do your job

Once I had to message Chief asking the settings to be changed to increase the maximum character limit as I went over the 10,000 in a college football (American Football) post.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

My goodness there's some serious text in this thread

Sorry about that. Once I get onto something good and into a groove, it just kinda goes.

I can only hope others find it as interesting as me, lol. (I wonder how many people would actually note that the Nations Cup is being discussed as well).

To think this started from talking about Aquaforce, which actually came about because, Shoei had to ask if there were any clubs that have ever came earlier in the Alphabet than Arsenal, which was a result of you posting a screenshot of the new clubs for the 15/16 season, with Bournemouth being listed first.

In other words, this wall of text is because of you, lol.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

I think it’s the change that a lot of people have been asking for, because as things stand; the smaller European teams don’t really get a chance to properly develop, not to mention you can end up with some absolutely boring groups with only one winner and one going to the playoffs. There are some groups where you’ve have two teams going for it, but the group order gets determined pretty quickly, and there’s no real reward for the lesser teams. Of course, just when they expand the Euros to 24 from 2016 onwards to make it more interesting, people of course complain about saturating the competition (24 out of 54 getting in? Yeah.) So with this change, teams of a similar level now have better opportunities to develop. It’s funny how they did give a place to League D. It’s a bit similar to the AFC Challenge Cup. I personally like the idea of a League D team in there. It’s a good experience and a chance to celebrate Europe. However, the exact number that go into the Euros will need to be revised. As things stand, the Group Stage is a joke (24 becomes 16).


Yep, Two San Maranese vs Two Spaniards and an Argentine. The rest are Italians. Definitely got the interest of the people, lol. Well, that’s a good question. According to the figures… San Marino Calcio have a 7,000 seat stadium… and their average attendance… is 303. The 2nd lowest out of all the teams in the Top 4 Divisions in Italy. In regards to attendances for the Campionato… that’s a bit tricker to find. Though looking at some of the videos, I think reaching three digits is a big deal.


The Campionato Grand Final:






Mind you, the trophies and medals look pretty decent.

(Fun fact: Every team but San Giovanni has won silverware.)

Lol, the Footballer Citizenship act! Help make the team the strongest it can be (Ironically, the Vatican want make a team out of their colleges, which would be a mix of talent around the world. They also hope to get a Serie A team as well) that would be amazing. Imagine all the potential talent you can net. Truth be told, I have tried campaigns before in FMs past by introducing a supergod of a player (perfect stats) into the team, and just seeing what happens. There are some very amusing results. Oh god, the Philippines, the one name that came to mind was Matthew Hartmann. That guy did very well for both Leicester and the Philippines in defence. Unfortunately, while in the game he had 100+ caps, was in the still in the same team with Rooney, Messi, Ronaldo, Adu, and Rossi, the real one only has 6 caps to his name. (Did you ever get World Cup 2010, being very hopeful, only to find that there were no Philippines?)


I would really like to, but I am a little worried. At least that option beats the hell out of… well, actually going to the capital to get it (apparently the guy that got that shirt actually went to Somalia to get it.)


I'm sure he'll break out one of these days. It has been a steady buildup, yes. But I think this season is going to be a very important one for you guys. I think you guys were on top for a while, now is the time to ensure that you stay on top come the final game. All too often a playoff team gets swallowed up from behind, especially after a disappointing loss (then again, it was Bristol Rovers. Then again, if I recall correctly, I think you got a win over them?) I think a playoff team in the Conference really has about 2-3 years of being ‘peak’ before they get caught and need to build up for the next attack. I think you guys have at least one more year, but I dare say that the expectations for this season have risen. You have gotten that taste, and now you must get more of it.


At this junction, what were your biggest strengths and weaknesses last season, and out of those five players you’ve signed, do they address those weaknesses, or do they seem more like depth players? (Were injuries a concern at all?)

I didn’t know that… wait, reserves player? Released by Rotherham, can’t even make the first team for FGR, and yet is playing (or was) for a Premier League team… Jamie Vardy, eat your heart out… James Pearson is where its at! (Alright, I know he was like 16-19, but still, you expect better pedigree!)

That said… I do wonder if you guys are going to give him his second chance? He’s was actually quite decent for the reserves, so, I guess he could start? If Vince believes in the idea of second chances, that is.

I'm pretty keen to see those changes happen. I suspect any team for League D that makes it to the Euros will get plenty of support from fans of other nations. Everyone loves an underdog lol. Also, can only be good for those developing nations to play against teams more on their level - gives them the chance to achieve realistic results and keep interest in the game strong. Can't imagine it would be terribly enjoyable to see your nation getting smashed just about every game!

A 7,000 seat stadium but only 3 figure attendances? Would that stadium perhaps be where the national team play? If nothing else, they won't need to worry about expanding the existing stadium anytime soon to meet growing demand haha.

A Vatican City national side? That would be pretty cool! Would be interesting to see how they could sustain a Serie A team - doesn't the Vatican itself have a population of less than 1,000? I guess they'd need to tap into the wider Rome market for fans? I'd love to see it happen...especially if the Pope throws his support in for that team and not those teams that are undeserving of his blessing.

(less of this please)

Matthew Hartmann? Did he develop really well in your game? I seem to recall his stats not being the best (I usually tried to sign up all the Filo players who were either transfer listed or free agents and give them regular employment/games to try and help boost the national team's fortunes lol).

Yes I was thinking the same, an email would be much preferable! Do the national team have a nickname? I'm sure some might have dubbed them 'the Pirates'. Wow someone actually went to get one? That's brave! Would be a great story to tell people though!

I don't really know a great deal about the players we've signed (other than what I've read on them) but they all seem quite good - a few to improve depth and hopefully a few to improve our best team. I'd say we just need a bit more experience and a slight tightening of defence (obviously more goals never hurts). We had 22 wins and 16 draws - just scraping into the last playoff spot. Ultimately, we were 13 points off the tally of Barnet (who won the league) so if we can turn a few of those draws into wins, it would go a long way I think.

I was thinking the same about Pearson. I wonder why he didn't (seemingly) progress with our reserve team - I guess Rotherham would have had a better youth setup than FGR at the time so maybe he left at his own accord? A shame he didn't progress through the ranks with us, perhaps we could have netted a tidy sum for him! Who knows? I guess given the scandal, he might need to accept a lot of clubs might avoid trying to sign him with it so fresh in the memory. He might need to rebuild his career at a lower level.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Well, 2018 is not too far away! And I bet they would (unless it is their own nation) What I will be interested in is who is going to be where come the seedings and the determination of the division. There is also one minor little thing, qualification for the World Cup. Now, according to UEFA, as far as I can see, it looks like the same deal as the Euro qualifying. Which also means that one place will be available for all leagues, which means… San Marino can actually qualify for the World Cup despite the restriction on places (as it stands, 14 places for Europe.) So in other words, San Marino have more chance to qualify for a World Cup… then the Philippines, Peru, Paupa New Guinea, and thanks to the new CAF qualifying system, Namibia, all due to the fact the strongest opposition San Marino ever have to face to qualify is Lithuania.

That stadium you see is the national stadium. In regards to the stadiums of the domestic team. You know those training pitches that often have pitches next door? That’s where pretty much all those teams play, only in front of a grandstand that houses 1000. Indeed, although mind you, international matches are always full because of the foreign fans, lol.

Funnily enough, it exists, and they have played internationals before, most notably with Monaco (and believe it or not, San Marino B. Yeah, think about that one for a moment, San Marino B. I actually made Marco Matterazzi my manager for the B team in FM… and he’s done jack crap, but seems to be quite happy in his role of doing absolutely nothing. On another note, I find it quite funny that Paolo Maldini will turn down any roles you offer him or just have no interest, yet he’s totally OK in being the Assistant Manager for San Marino (Every game I play, he always accepts the role.) I find the idea of Maldini watching Campionato games in San Marino and being very proud in telling me about Gasperoni’s awesome game very hilarious. I wouldn’t be surprised if attendances increased because of his presence. (On another note, I have been recruiting former Italian internationals as staff, since they’re the only ones willing to work there.))

Ahem, anyway, the population will not be a problem for the Vatican (another limitation they have is the fact that those 800 people are always temporary and never permanent,) because the eligibility criteria to play for the Vatican is that either a player must have gone to a Roman College, and can be a student or a graduate, or have represented the Swiss guard, past or present. It’s similar to Guam, whose people are American Citizens, but only those that have a connection with Guam (around 100,000 people) could actually represent Guam.

This bit is important because it comes to the next question, the domestic structure of the Vatican City. Again, the Roman Colleges are the domestic teams of the Vatican. So it’s like College Sports in the US. There is an actual cup competition, known as the Clericus Cup, which has been running since 2007. The Cup actually has an interesting rule that gives us the blue card, or the ‘sin bin,’ where the player must leave the pitch for 5 minutes. Originally this replaced the red and yellow cards, and the games were an hour long, but thanks to how intense the games are, I think there have been some rule changes.

Football has always been a big thing in the Vatican, with the three most recent popes having some history with the sport in different capacities. Pope Francis is a football fanatic. He is a collector of football shirts, and such shirts are often given to him as a gift. He has a football collection that is visible to the public. I do actually have some photos of this collection, since there are some interesting sights there (I think I recall Roger Milla’s WC shirt was on display. I’ll have to take a look at them, and maybe post them up.)

Now the big question: Would the Vatican City join FIFA and become a proper footballing nation? The Vatican City does tick all of the boxes, including being a member of UEFA. However, despite the football interest, the answer is no, and thanks to the FIFA scandals, their answer is an even stronger no, to the point where the Vatican is actually rejecting donations from the Copa America ($10,000 euros for every goal scored) due to the scandal (this donation drive was a Pope Francis project). Scandals aside, the reasons are simply because the Vatican’s view of football differs from FIFA. They do not approve of professional football being played on a Sunday, especially around lunchtime. They are OK with amateur football being played as means of fun and relaxation. They want to keep being amateurs, because if they go professional, then the sport becomes a business rather than as enjoyment (obviously this reason falls flat when you consider the other micronations).

That said, should the Vatican change their mind, they will have no problems in becoming a FIFA member. However, they do have their religious requests (the big one being the football on Sunday).

On a minor note, Monaco is also the same. They could be a member anytime they want, it’s just never been talked in a serious enough light. They’re more than happy with AS Monaco, although with Gibraltar getting membership, I think there’s a good chance Monaco will follow suit soon.


Yeah, he was very solid. If I recall correctly, he had a potential value over his head, and I lucked in big time with him. He was playing for Pompey at the time. Needless to say his current role is a far cry from those lofty highs (at least they were Premier League). The surprising thing for me is the fact he’s still only 25? The same age as Andy King! I feel very dirty that I sold Andy King, and kept Hartmann.

Lol. I see where you’re going with that, but no. It’s the Ocean Stars (which makes sense in more than one way, you can see.) It would be a great story to tell indeed, just look at all the nice little things you can encounter in your visit to the country: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Somalia Kinda makes you want to get on a plane and get there as soon as you can, lol.

Heh, You posted the rest of my quote there.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Well, 2018 is not too far away! And I bet they would (unless it is their own nation) What I will be interested in is who is going to be where come the seedings and the determination of the division. There is also one minor little thing, qualification for the World Cup. Now, according to UEFA, as far as I can see, it looks like the same deal as the Euro qualifying. Which also means that one place will be available for all leagues, which means… San Marino can actually qualify for the World Cup despite the restriction on places (as it stands, 14 places for Europe.) So in other words, San Marino have more chance to qualify for a World Cup… then the Philippines, Peru, Paupa New Guinea, and thanks to the new CAF qualifying system, Namibia, all due to the fact the strongest opposition San Marino ever have to face to qualify is Lithuania.

That stadium you see is the national stadium. In regards to the stadiums of the domestic team. You know those training pitches that often have pitches next door? That’s where pretty much all those teams play, only in front of a grandstand that houses 1000. Indeed, although mind you, international matches are always full because of the foreign fans, lol.

Funnily enough, it exists, and they have played internationals before, most notably with Monaco (and believe it or not, San Marino B. Yeah, think about that one for a moment, San Marino B. I actually made Marco Matterazzi my manager for the B team in FM… and he’s done jack crap, but seems to be quite happy in his role of doing absolutely nothing. On another note, I find it quite funny that Paolo Maldini will turn down any roles you offer him or just have no interest, yet he’s totally OK in being the Assistant Manager for San Marino (Every game I play, he always accepts the role.) I find the idea of Maldini watching Campionato games in San Marino and being very proud in telling me about Gasperoni’s awesome game very hilarious. I wouldn’t be surprised if attendances increased because of his presence. (On another note, I have been recruiting former Italian internationals as staff, since they’re the only ones willing to work there.))

Ahem, anyway, the population will not be a problem for the Vatican (another limitation they have is the fact that those 800 people are always temporary and never permanent,) because the eligibility criteria to play for the Vatican is that either a player must have gone to a Roman College, and can be a student or a graduate, or have represented the Swiss guard, past or present. It’s similar to Guam, whose people are American Citizens, but only those that have a connection with Guam (around 100,000 people) could actually represent Guam.

This bit is important because it comes to the next question, the domestic structure of the Vatican City. Again, the Roman Colleges are the domestic teams of the Vatican. So it’s like College Sports in the US. There is an actual cup competition, known as the Clericus Cup, which has been running since 2007. The Cup actually has an interesting rule that gives us the blue card, or the ‘sin bin,’ where the player must leave the pitch for 5 minutes. Originally this replaced the red and yellow cards, and the games were an hour long, but thanks to how intense the games are, I think there have been some rule changes.

Football has always been a big thing in the Vatican, with the three most recent popes having some history with the sport in different capacities. Pope Francis is a football fanatic. He is a collector of football shirts, and such shirts are often given to him as a gift. He has a football collection that is visible to the public. I do actually have some photos of this collection, since there are some interesting sights there (I think I recall Roger Milla’s WC shirt was on display. I’ll have to take a look at them, and maybe post them up.)

Now the big question: Would the Vatican City join FIFA and become a proper footballing nation? The Vatican City does tick all of the boxes, including being a member of UEFA. However, despite the football interest, the answer is no, and thanks to the FIFA scandals, their answer is an even stronger no, to the point where the Vatican is actually rejecting donations from the Copa America ($10,000 euros for every goal scored) due to the scandal (this donation drive was a Pope Francis project). Scandals aside, the reasons are simply because the Vatican’s view of football differs from FIFA. They do not approve of professional football being played on a Sunday, especially around lunchtime. They are OK with amateur football being played as means of fun and relaxation. They want to keep being amateurs, because if they go professional, then the sport becomes a business rather than as enjoyment (obviously this reason falls flat when you consider the other micronations).

That said, should the Vatican change their mind, they will have no problems in becoming a FIFA member. However, they do have their religious requests (the big one being the football on Sunday).

On a minor note, Monaco is also the same. They could be a member anytime they want, it’s just never been talked in a serious enough light. They’re more than happy with AS Monaco, although with Gibraltar getting membership, I think there’s a good chance Monaco will follow suit soon.


Yeah, he was very solid. If I recall correctly, he had a potential value over his head, and I lucked in big time with him. He was playing for Pompey at the time. Needless to say his current role is a far cry from those lofty highs (at least they were Premier League). The surprising thing for me is the fact he’s still only 25? The same age as Andy King! I feel very dirty that I sold Andy King, and kept Hartmann.

Lol. I see where you’re going with that, but no. It’s the Ocean Stars (which makes sense in more than one way, you can see.) It would be a great story to tell indeed, just look at all the nice little things you can encounter in your visit to the country: http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/view/Advice/Somalia Kinda makes you want to get on a plane and get there as soon as you can, lol.

Heh, You posted the rest of my quote there.

Haha whoops! Copied your post into my reply so I didn't need to keep scrolling!

Geez, that'd be something! Seeing a San Marino or Lichtenstein at a WC. Heck, even Lithuania would be probably raise a few eyebrows. I'll be very interested to see how the seedings/groupings work. I wonder if it might even see some teams 'tank' to try and get into an easier group, thus improving their chance of qualifying?

Would it be safe to assume that San Marino would be one of the few nations in Europe that probably has its home support dwarfed by travelling away fans when playing at home? I guess for those international matches, going to San Marino would be part of the experience? Probably

San Marino B? Given the range of talent seemingly available to the national side, I can only imagine what the B team would have to work with! Ah good old FM, allowing us to live out cool scenarios. I'm sitting here having a laugh at the thought of Matterazzi and Maldini turning down potentially thousands of euros to manage some of the biggest clubs in Europe to 'give something back to the game' by helping mentor and develop the bright future of San Marino football! Would have been hilarious to hear them toasting some of the players as well given their own accomplishments in the game!

I think I may have done something similar with getting Johan Neeskens involved in the Philippines national team setup - maybe my U21 manager from memory?

That reminds me. Fun fact: James Norwood (former FGR player) I just learned is the last player to score a hat trick for the England C team.

Wow, that's really interesting about the Vatican - who'd have thought they have such an interest in football? Never heard any mention of it until now. Love the fact they have a 'Clericus Cup' and use blue cards. I suspect if they played competitive matches, opposition fans would never criticise them of 'playing dirty' or using unsportsmanlike tactics. I was actually wondering how the 'playing on Sundays' would potentially be an issue. It's also a shame to see them not wanting to join FIFA - fair to say the organisation could use some integrity and moral guidance following the scandals that have rocked it earlier in the year. That being said, you have to admire their willingness to only want to play for 'enjoyment' and not the business side of the game. I guess in a sense, that' is football in its purest form.

If I'm not mistaken, quite a few of the current Filipino national side are players not actually born in the Philippines but who are eligible to play for them through their heritage. Guys like Neil Etheridge (ex Fulham), Rob Gier (plays for Ascot Utd), Stephan Palla (Wolfsberger AC), Luke Woodland (ex Bolton) and my new hero, Iain Ramsay (Australian born but just recently scored a brace for the Philippines in an AFC qualifer) all seem to be guys who've been blooded into the team despite being born elsewhere.

I'll have to do some proper research as I think the game has experienced a bit of a boom in recent times, with more and more players plying their trade in leagues outside the Philippines. Just had a look at Hartmann and he's only 23 I believe - feels like he has been around for years!

Wowzers, with an advert like that, I can't imagine why people aren't rushing out to visit the country!

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Haha whoops! Copied your post into my reply so I didn't need to keep scrolling!

Geez, that'd be something! Seeing a San Marino or Lichtenstein at a WC. Heck, even Lithuania would be probably raise a few eyebrows. I'll be very interested to see how the seedings/groupings work. I wonder if it might even see some teams 'tank' to try and get into an easier group, thus improving their chance of qualifying?

Would it be safe to assume that San Marino would be one of the few nations in Europe that probably has its home support dwarfed by travelling away fans when playing at home? I guess for those international matches, going to San Marino would be part of the experience? Probably

San Marino B? Given the range of talent seemingly available to the national side, I can only imagine what the B team would have to work with! Ah good old FM, allowing us to live out cool scenarios. I'm sitting here having a laugh at the thought of Matterazzi and Maldini turning down potentially thousands of euros to manage some of the biggest clubs in Europe to 'give something back to the game' by helping mentor and develop the bright future of San Marino football! Would have been hilarious to hear them toasting some of the players as well given their own accomplishments in the game!

I think I may have done something similar with getting Johan Neeskens involved in the Philippines national team setup - maybe my U21 manager from memory?

That reminds me. Fun fact: James Norwood (former FGR player) I just learned is the last player to score a hat trick for the England C team.

Wow, that's really interesting about the Vatican - who'd have thought they have such an interest in football? Never heard any mention of it until now. Love the fact they have a 'Clericus Cup' and use blue cards. I suspect if they played competitive matches, opposition fans would never criticise them of 'playing dirty' or using unsportsmanlike tactics. I was actually wondering how the 'playing on Sundays' would potentially be an issue. It's also a shame to see them not wanting to join FIFA - fair to say the organisation could use some integrity and moral guidance following the scandals that have rocked it earlier in the year. That being said, you have to admire their willingness to only want to play for 'enjoyment' and not the business side of the game. I guess in a sense, that' is football in its purest form.

If I'm not mistaken, quite a few of the current Filipino national side are players not actually born in the Philippines but who are eligible to play for them through their heritage. Guys like Neil Etheridge (ex Fulham), Rob Gier (plays for Ascot Utd), Stephan Palla (Wolfsberger AC), Luke Woodland (ex Bolton) and my new hero, Iain Ramsay (Australian born but just recently scored a brace for the Philippines in an AFC qualifer) all seem to be guys who've been blooded into the team despite being born elsewhere.

I'll have to do some proper research as I think the game has experienced a bit of a boom in recent times, with more and more players plying their trade in leagues outside the Philippines. Just had a look at Hartmann and he's only 23 I believe - feels like he has been around for years!

Wowzers, with an advert like that, I can't imagine why people aren't rushing out to visit the country!

I’d be really pleased if Lithuania makes it, Simonas Stankevicius is a regular for them. We’ve also got another one playing for the U21s, so potentially two. Either way, one of these bottem ranked teams will play both the Euros and the World Cup! (I thought about that, but that would only be a concern for the first League. The November 2017 NT coefficients will be used to seed the nations.)

That, you would be correct, and yes, part of the fun is to experience tiny San Marino. Besides: http://www.iorise.com/blog/wp-conte...-in-Borgo-Maggiore-Republic-of-San-Marino.jpg I dare you to say no. (Andorra and the others are also pretty nice as well.)




It should be noted they’re not the only former Italians that work for me. Bonera’s my U21, Del Piero my U19, and Nesta is a coach! But I have to admit, Materazzi’s got it the easiest. I still have no idea what the heck he actually does. Hey Marco, what exactly are you doing? http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/1319347/600full-marco-materazzi.jpg You know what the best part is? No matter which FM I play after Maldini’s retirement, he always accepts the San Marino Assistant Manager role (even from his coaching role at Milan. Yeah, Paolo resigned from Milan, to become the San Marino Ass Man… either he really sees potential in San Marino, or he thinks Milan is beyond even him to save). What is even more amusing that he would turn down the Leicester/Other Club Assistant Manager role, saying he has no interest (And I have tried to offer him the Leicester/Other Club position before the San Marino job. He always takes the San Marino job). Also, in my ‘fun’ file, Paolo just loves to tell me how Selva and Rinaldi played an awesome game for Leicester… sigh, Paolo, it’s OK mate, I’ve got a position right here for you. I can make Aloisi the U21 manager if you really want me to (Yes, John Aloisi is my assistant manager at Leicester).

I also had a moment in the game where I actually screwed myself from 1st place in the Ranks after winning the Euros (To be honest, I had the easiest group[Sweden, Serbia, Belerus(They qualified to the R16), an easy run to the finals(Albania, Austria, Croatia). The only difficult team was the Dutch in the final) because the friendlies I played for the warmup actually reduced my points. Meaning I didn’t even crack into the top 10 after winning the Euro because of this:

Me: Roy, would you like to play a warmup friendly?

Roy: No. England has absolutely nothing to gain from playing you.

Me: What? You mean the team that boasts 10 San Maranese players, 7 of which are starters, from my undefeated Leicester team, who blitzed the Premier League. Not to mention that this same team won 5-1 and 3-0 over you in the qualifiers, going undefeated at the top of the group. Let’s not also forget that we’re ranked 12th, and you’re ranked 17th. Yet, you have nothing to gain from playing us?

Roy: Exactly, now sod off.

(As I said, this is my fun file, and I’ll be even more honest, San Marino is still a very difficult challenge because all the big nations have 23 capable players, and you’re screwed if one of your superstars gets an injury or suspension. Just a note: Vardy and Nugent both play for England, despite the fact Vardy's basically rotation, and Nugent's back up (Both of them very happy, mind you).)

You know you’re the scum of the earth when New Zealand and Kazakhstan also reject you. I had to play Andorra, Malta, and Kiribiti. Yes, I turned Kiribati into a FIFA, and then got the Kiribati team got on a plane to Serraville, just to play a friendly… the interesting thing I learnt is that some teams can reject you because it’s too expensive to play against you. So apparently St Kitts rejected me on that ground, yet Kiribati agreed? Just for reference, I found this: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/kiribati-islands-football-team/? A fundraiser just to get the team the bare basics. According to Google, it would take 40 hours for them to reach Bolonga, before they get on the bus to Serraville. It costs $5k for a return ticket from Melbourne to Bolonga, and $600 from Melbourne to Suva, with the need to catch a chartered flight from Tarawa to Suva. That’s just for one person. They bought a team of 23 plus their manager. All of this to play in front of a full house of 5000, in a warmup friendly. Yeah, 5000 came to watch that match. Only on FM can you have 5000 San Maranese lining up, fighting for tickets for a warm up game against a Pacific Island nation that has conceded 123 goals in 10 games against Fiji and Vanuatu... darn, did the San Maranese want to see revenge? What it's like to belt a nation? How else would you explain it?

So basically, their one trip to San Marino likely cost the team more money than they ever spent in their entire existence (they have played all of 10 games since 1978. All of the games in three tournaments hosted by a neighbour (Fiji for the first two, and New Caledonia for the 2011 tournament), all just to play against the best players in the world. I salute you. I will personally donate a million pounds to them. (Or maybe that was part of their grand plan?)



Neeskens as your assistant? Nice. Also, England C! A team that actually consists of the best amateurs (I know it’s non-leauge, but is it just for amateurs?) He’s now playing for Tranmere… that’s an interesting choice. What did he leave anyway?



Really? I’m a bit surprised. It’s like one of those novelty stories that might have a few seconds or a small article dedicated to it. Actually, also funny that you mention that, because it has been noted that the games are very fiercely competitive. While they will be clean, they will be aggressive as all heck. You do have to admire them for keeping the sport as merely a game of entertainment and recreation.


Kinda like the Caribbean nations. After all, if you’ve got talent playing in a developed structure, why not get some expats playing for you and see how they go? But like the Indonesians, the Filipinos haven’t really done much, despite being one of the oldest teams I think? Before I go on about something else, perhaps you like to tell us more about the national team and structure of the game in the Philippines?




That reminds me, speaking of poor management. The biggest club in Bulgaria, CSKA Sofia, has had a change in ownership due to massive amounts of debts. You know football is struggling in your country when the biggest club is on the verge of collapse. As a consequence, the club is going to be doing a ‘Rangers,’ in other words, kicked out of the professional leagues, to start their new life in the Bulgarian 4th tier, which has 39 regional divisions. To gain promotion, they not only need to win their division, but also win the playoffs to be one of eight teams promoted to the V group, which then requires them to win their group to get promoted to the B group, and then finally a top 2 finish into the A group, or the top tier. The good news is that the club is now owned by Bulgaria’s richest man; Vasil Bozhkov. He is worth US$1.5b, and is the biggest name in Bulgarian gambling, owning 60% of Bulgaria’s casinos, and also the only bookmaker in the country. He does also own the largest construction company in Bulgaria.

He may or may not be a criminal.

It should also be noted that he owned CSKA for 7 years (99-06) before selling it to an Indian Businessman. It was under his ownership when the club won its last title. In order to save the club, an IPO on the SOFIX (Bulgarian Stock Exchange) was made to the fans. While the fans did get on board, the IPO failed due to dodgy disclosures and failing to meet the minimum requirements for listing (The price was E1.5, so the fans raised E540,000.)

Just as a note, CSKA Sofia was a military football team. Thanks to how business goes, the club is privately owned, and shares only an informal link with the military.

Hmm... I wonder how this will end up?


[Gee whiz, Aquaforce, San Marino, Vatican City, FGR, now Kiribati, CSKA Sofia, the potential for 4th tier Bulgarian Football, and potentially the Philippines. How is the Grandpa Simpson .gif not been used?]

 

[NUFC Tiger]

I’d be really pleased if Lithuania makes it, Simonas Stankevicius is a regular for them. We’ve also got another one playing for the U21s, so potentially two. Either way, one of these bottem ranked teams will play both the Euros and the World Cup! (I thought about that, but that would only be a concern for the first League. The November 2017 NT coefficients will be used to seed the nations.)

That, you would be correct, and yes, part of the fun is to experience tiny San Marino. Besides: http://www.iorise.com/blog/wp-conte...-in-Borgo-Maggiore-Republic-of-San-Marino.jpg I dare you to say no. (Andorra and the others are also pretty nice as well.)




It should be noted they’re not the only former Italians that work for me. Bonera’s my U21, Del Piero my U19, and Nesta is a coach! But I have to admit, Materazzi’s got it the easiest. I still have no idea what the heck he actually does. Hey Marco, what exactly are you doing? http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/1319347/600full-marco-materazzi.jpg You know what the best part is? No matter which FM I play after Maldini’s retirement, he always accepts the San Marino Assistant Manager role (even from his coaching role at Milan. Yeah, Paolo resigned from Milan, to become the San Marino Ass Man… either he really sees potential in San Marino, or he thinks Milan is beyond even him to save). What is even more amusing that he would turn down the Leicester/Other Club Assistant Manager role, saying he has no interest (And I have tried to offer him the Leicester/Other Club position before the San Marino job. He always takes the San Marino job). Also, in my ‘fun’ file, Paolo just loves to tell me how Selva and Rinaldi played an awesome game for Leicester… sigh, Paolo, it’s OK mate, I’ve got a position right here for you. I can make Aloisi the U21 manager if you really want me to (Yes, John Aloisi is my assistant manager at Leicester).

I also had a moment in the game where I actually screwed myself from 1st place in the Ranks after winning the Euros (To be honest, I had the easiest group[Sweden, Serbia, Belerus(They qualified to the R16), an easy run to the finals(Albania, Austria, Croatia). The only difficult team was the Dutch in the final) because the friendlies I played for the warmup actually reduced my points. Meaning I didn’t even crack into the top 10 after winning the Euro because of this:

Me: Roy, would you like to play a warmup friendly?

Roy: No. England has absolutely nothing to gain from playing you.

Me: What? You mean the team that boasts 10 San Maranese players, 7 of which are starters, from my undefeated Leicester team, who blitzed the Premier League. Not to mention that this same team won 5-1 and 3-0 over you in the qualifiers, going undefeated at the top of the group. Let’s not also forget that we’re ranked 12th, and you’re ranked 17th. Yet, you have nothing to gain from playing us?

Roy: Exactly, now sod off.

(As I said, this is my fun file, and I’ll be even more honest, San Marino is still a very difficult challenge because all the big nations have 23 capable players, and you’re screwed if one of your superstars gets an injury or suspension. Just a note: Vardy and Nugent both play for England, despite the fact Vardy's basically rotation, and Nugent's back up (Both of them very happy, mind you).)

You know you’re the scum of the earth when New Zealand and Kazakhstan also reject you. I had to play Andorra, Malta, and Kiribiti. Yes, I turned Kiribati into a FIFA, and then got the Kiribati team got on a plane to Serraville, just to play a friendly… the interesting thing I learnt is that some teams can reject you because it’s too expensive to play against you. So apparently St Kitts rejected me on that ground, yet Kiribati agreed? Just for reference, I found this: http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/kiribati-islands-football-team/? A fundraiser just to get the team the bare basics. According to Google, it would take 40 hours for them to reach Bolonga, before they get on the bus to Serraville. It costs $5k for a return ticket from Melbourne to Bolonga, and $600 from Melbourne to Suva, with the need to catch a chartered flight from Tarawa to Suva. That’s just for one person. They bought a team of 23 plus their manager. All of this to play in front of a full house of 5000, in a warmup friendly. Yeah, 5000 came to watch that match. Only on FM can you have 5000 San Maranese lining up, fighting for tickets for a warm up game against a Pacific Island nation that has conceded 123 goals in 10 games against Fiji and Vanuatu... darn, did the San Maranese want to see revenge? What it's like to belt a nation? How else would you explain it?

So basically, their one trip to San Marino likely cost the team more money than they ever spent in their entire existence (they have played all of 10 games since 1978. All of the games in three tournaments hosted by a neighbour (Fiji for the first two, and New Caledonia for the 2011 tournament), all just to play against the best players in the world. I salute you. I will personally donate a million pounds to them. (Or maybe that was part of their grand plan?)



Neeskens as your assistant? Nice. Also, England C! A team that actually consists of the best amateurs (I know it’s non-leauge, but is it just for amateurs?) He’s now playing for Tranmere… that’s an interesting choice. What did he leave anyway?



Really? I’m a bit surprised. It’s like one of those novelty stories that might have a few seconds or a small article dedicated to it. Actually, also funny that you mention that, because it has been noted that the games are very fiercely competitive. While they will be clean, they will be aggressive as all heck. You do have to admire them for keeping the sport as merely a game of entertainment and recreation.


Kinda like the Caribbean nations. After all, if you’ve got talent playing in a developed structure, why not get some expats playing for you and see how they go? But like the Indonesians, the Filipinos haven’t really done much, despite being one of the oldest teams I think? Before I go on about something else, perhaps you like to tell us more about the national team and structure of the game in the Philippines?




That reminds me, speaking of poor management. The biggest club in Bulgaria, CSKA Sofia, has had a change in ownership due to massive amounts of debts. You know football is struggling in your country when the biggest club is on the verge of collapse. As a consequence, the club is going to be doing a ‘Rangers,’ in other words, kicked out of the professional leagues, to start their new life in the Bulgarian 4th tier, which has 39 regional divisions. To gain promotion, they not only need to win their division, but also win the playoffs to be one of eight teams promoted to the V group, which then requires them to win their group to get promoted to the B group, and then finally a top 2 finish into the A group, or the top tier. The good news is that the club is now owned by Bulgaria’s richest man; Vasil Bozhkov. He is worth US$1.5b, and is the biggest name in Bulgarian gambling, owning 60% of Bulgaria’s casinos, and also the only bookmaker in the country. He does also own the largest construction company in Bulgaria.

He may or may not be a criminal.

It should also be noted that he owned CSKA for 7 years (99-06) before selling it to an Indian Businessman. It was under his ownership when the club won its last title. In order to save the club, an IPO on the SOFIX (Bulgarian Stock Exchange) was made to the fans. While the fans did get on board, the IPO failed due to dodgy disclosures and failing to meet the minimum requirements for listing (The price was E1.5, so the fans raised E540,000.)

Just as a note, CSKA Sofia was a military football team. Thanks to how business goes, the club is privately owned, and shares only an informal link with the military.

Hmm... I wonder how this will end up?


[Gee whiz, Aquaforce, San Marino, Vatican City, FGR, now Kiribati, CSKA Sofia, the potential for 4th tier Bulgarian Football, and potentially the Philippines. How is the Grandpa Simpson .gif not been used?]

The more I read Fryer, the more I feel like I've gone on a whirlwind trip around the globe!

Agreed on Lithuania as well, have a soft spot for them too! I recall when ever I used to manage Rotherham back in the day (FM2005 IIRC, they were a cash strapped championship team), I used to sign this free agent Lithuanian winger (AML) - can't recall his name but he was well capped by the national side and chipped in with plenty of assists as we bravely fought against relegation. Interestingly, my main man up front was none other than Aussie Danny Allsopp who found himself on the transfer list at Hull! We had a star keeper in Mike Politt (who had interest from PL clubs) too as well as fellow Aussie Hayden Foxe marshaling the back 4. I've lifted Newcastle into a world force, led the Socceroos to a WC triumph and fulfilled Vince's vision of having FGR in the championship but for me, the joy of seeing a rat tag club favourites to go down proving the odds wrong has to rank among my best achievements. Think we finished safely mid table both seasons I was at the helm.

Allsopp was so good back on that FM that I even lured him to Bohemians in Ireland when I managed there, with his goals helping me romp the league and even go agonisingly close to making the Champions League Group stages (fell at the last hurdle in the pre group qualifiers if memory serves me).

On Lithuania again though, didn't a wealthy Lithuanian buy Hearts a few years back trying to bankroll them into breaking the Rangers/Celtic stranglehold? I think he even brought a few of his country men to play for the club as well IIRC? Not sure how that played out but given the relative state of Scottish football, can't imagine it had a happy ending...

I love the fact that tiny and unheralded San Marino somehow poached some of the cream of Italian football's next generation of managers, somehow convinced them to turn down the prestige, wealth and stature of some of the biggest clubs in the world...to dedicate themselves to the improvement of San Marino's national team's fortunes. Maybe the relative proximity to Maranello makes it easier for the likes of Maldini, Del Pierro and co to choose their next Ferrari?

Kudos to Kiribati and their FA for funding the trip! No doubt would have been almost a once in a lifetime experience for their players. To be fair, the chance to play in front of 5,000 fans would probably be a huge step up to what they are used to as well! If the locals were so determined to see a drubbing dished out, I can only imagine they were hoping San Marino would usurp Australia with the biggest ever win in a sanctioned international fixture. I'm sure American Samoa would love to see their pacific neighbours Kiribiti take the mantle of heaviest defeat in a FIFA fixture!

I'm not 100% of the requirements for England C, I'm guessing any player who plays at a non league level would be eligible for selection and representation? Would be great if it was just semi pros and amatuers (no full time contracts) but I guess that would then get a bit messy. I was a bit surprised that he was released given he was a fan favourite (5 odd years at the club) but I guess the club wanted to freshen up its attacking options (addressed by the new incoming players) hopefully so maybe Norwood wasn't likely to feature much for the club. Tranmere coming down will probably hope to return to League 2 soon you'd suspect so he's joining a decent club (hopefully) in that regard.

The Philippines are off to a great start in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers sitting 2nd in their group on GD with 2 wins from 2 games (behind North Korea and surprisingly ahead of Uzbekistan). Dan Palami (the current manager) probably is their version of Frank Lowy/Guus Hiddink rolled into 1 as he is credited with sparking the renaissance of the game in the country. In 2006, the country fell to 196th in the rankings, the lowest it has ever been. When Palami came aboard, he actually had to fund the national team out of his own pocket due to the national team failing to attract enough corporate sponsorship and minimal assistance from the government. He led the team to their first ever win in a World Cup qualification match and was also responsible for helping mastermind the 'Miracle of Hanoi' when the team upset defending champions Vietnam at the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband the scorers (incidentally, 2 I like to try and sign on FM to 'help' the national team).
http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/134/641/0/index.html

Palami has also implemented a strategy called Project 100 - which aims to make the national team a top 100 ranked nation. Part of his plan has been to blood more foreign born talent (some who I mentioned earlier).

The team have never made a World Cup obviously or even an Asian Cup - and as you say, are one of the oldest national teams in the region having playing its first game in 1913. Here's a fun fact (one I only discovered in my own research): The Philippines can lay claim to having first Asian player to play in Europe as well as having a player who holds the record for being the youngest ever player to appear for Barcelona AND the youngest to have scored for the club. That is none other than Paulino Alcántara! Not only that but he (according to Wikipedia) represented both the Philippines and Spain at national level. He retired at 31 to become a doctor.

In terms of league structure, they have a 2 tier division semi professional competition - the United Football League. Similar to your mention of CSKA Sofia, the Philippines has clubs affiliated with the armed forces - Army, Air Force and Navy I believe are all teams made up of enlisted servicemen within each branch. The country has also received investment from FIFA, other Federations (Germany among them) and clubs (Chelsea and Real Madrid both have academies for under privileged children I believe. Interestingly for Chelsea, the academy is run by brothers Phil and James Younghusband, 2 English born Filipino players who came through the junior and reserve ranks at Chelsea and who are mainstays of the national team).

It's good to hear CSKA Sofia are seemingly in safe (financially) hands - though I don't envy that promotion system! Hopefully won't be long before they are back in Europe competing against the best the other nations have to offer.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

The more I read Fryer, the more I feel like I've gone on a whirlwind trip around the globe!

Agreed on Lithuania as well, have a soft spot for them too! I recall when ever I used to manage Rotherham back in the day (FM2005 IIRC, they were a cash strapped championship team), I used to sign this free agent Lithuanian winger (AML) - can't recall his name but he was well capped by the national side and chipped in with plenty of assists as we bravely fought against relegation. Interestingly, my main man up front was none other than Aussie Danny Allsopp who found himself on the transfer list at Hull! We had a star keeper in Mike Politt (who had interest from PL clubs) too as well as fellow Aussie Hayden Foxe marshaling the back 4. I've lifted Newcastle into a world force, led the Socceroos to a WC triumph and fulfilled Vince's vision of having FGR in the championship but for me, the joy of seeing a rat tag club favourites to go down proving the odds wrong has to rank among my best achievements. Think we finished safely mid table both seasons I was at the helm.

Allsopp was so good back on that FM that I even lured him to Bohemians in Ireland when I managed there, with his goals helping me romp the league and even go agonisingly close to making the Champions League Group stages (fell at the last hurdle in the pre group qualifiers if memory serves me).

On Lithuania again though, didn't a wealthy Lithuanian buy Hearts a few years back trying to bankroll them into breaking the Rangers/Celtic stranglehold? I think he even brought a few of his country men to play for the club as well IIRC? Not sure how that played out but given the relative state of Scottish football, can't imagine it had a happy ending...

I love the fact that tiny and unheralded San Marino somehow poached some of the cream of Italian football's next generation of managers, somehow convinced them to turn down the prestige, wealth and stature of some of the biggest clubs in the world...to dedicate themselves to the improvement of San Marino's national team's fortunes. Maybe the relative proximity to Maranello makes it easier for the likes of Maldini, Del Pierro and co to choose their next Ferrari?

Kudos to Kiribati and their FA for funding the trip! No doubt would have been almost a once in a lifetime experience for their players. To be fair, the chance to play in front of 5,000 fans would probably be a huge step up to what they are used to as well! If the locals were so determined to see a drubbing dished out, I can only imagine they were hoping San Marino would usurp Australia with the biggest ever win in a sanctioned international fixture. I'm sure American Samoa would love to see their pacific neighbours Kiribiti take the mantle of heaviest defeat in a FIFA fixture!

I'm not 100% of the requirements for England C, I'm guessing any player who plays at a non league level would be eligible for selection and representation? Would be great if it was just semi pros and amatuers (no full time contracts) but I guess that would then get a bit messy. I was a bit surprised that he was released given he was a fan favourite (5 odd years at the club) but I guess the club wanted to freshen up its attacking options (addressed by the new incoming players) hopefully so maybe Norwood wasn't likely to feature much for the club. Tranmere coming down will probably hope to return to League 2 soon you'd suspect so he's joining a decent club (hopefully) in that regard.

The Philippines are off to a great start in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers sitting 2nd in their group on GD with 2 wins from 2 games (behind North Korea and surprisingly ahead of Uzbekistan). Dan Palami (the current manager) probably is their version of Frank Lowy/Guus Hiddink rolled into 1 as he is credited with sparking the renaissance of the game in the country. In 2006, the country fell to 196th in the rankings, the lowest it has ever been. When Palami came aboard, he actually had to fund the national team out of his own pocket due to the national team failing to attract enough corporate sponsorship and minimal assistance from the government. He led the team to their first ever win in a World Cup qualification match and was also responsible for helping mastermind the 'Miracle of Hanoi' when the team upset defending champions Vietnam at the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband the scorers (incidentally, 2 I like to try and sign on FM to 'help' the national team).
http://www.fifa.com/world-match-centre/news/newsid/134/641/0/index.html

Palami has also implemented a strategy called Project 100 - which aims to make the national team a top 100 ranked nation. Part of his plan has been to blood more foreign born talent (some who I mentioned earlier).

The team have never made a World Cup obviously or even an Asian Cup - and as you say, are one of the oldest national teams in the region having playing its first game in 1913. Here's a fun fact (one I only discovered in my own research): The Philippines can lay claim to having first Asian player to play in Europe as well as having a player who holds the record for being the youngest ever player to appear for Barcelona AND the youngest to have scored for the club. That is none other than Paulino Alcántara! Not only that but he (according to Wikipedia) represented both the Philippines and Spain at national level. He retired at 31 to become a doctor.

In terms of league structure, they have a 2 tier division semi professional competition - the United Football League. Similar to your mention of CSKA Sofia, the Philippines has clubs affiliated with the armed forces - Army, Air Force and Navy I believe are all teams made up of enlisted servicemen within each branch. The country has also received investment from FIFA, other Federations (Germany among them) and clubs (Chelsea and Real Madrid both have academies for under privileged children I believe. Interestingly for Chelsea, the academy is run by brothers Phil and James Younghusband, 2 English born Filipino players who came through the junior and reserve ranks at Chelsea and who are mainstays of the national team).

It's good to hear CSKA Sofia are seemingly in safe (financially) hands - though I don't envy that promotion system! Hopefully won't be long before they are back in Europe competing against the best the other nations have to offer.

Me too, lol.

Ah Rotherham, I used them as a feeder club in recent times to help them up the ranks. Unfortunately this time around, despite giving them my young Sri Lankan keeper, got relegated because they didn’t score enough goals (Like 15 goals worse than the next team). They had a lot of draws, and were one of the best defensive teams (I contributed a couple of defenders too), but despite a positive GD, it still wasn’t good enough. Allsopp and Foxe! I signed them for my Leicester team in 2007 (I had quite a few Aussies, Kisnobo and Tiatto were already there, as well as Wesolowski. I signed Aloisi as my main striker with Fryatt and Hammond either side of him, and I also got Cisak. I can’t remember if it was that file or the one after my made up Torquay side (I made a rival to Torquay United and started from the very bottom, simply called 'Torquay Towers' (Like Alton Towers, only more of a roller coaster ride!) I called the manager Basil Fawlty (with profile picture included and his actual age), and always had a Spanish Captain (the first one was actually a very awesome goal keeper by the name of Santi Lampon in TCM 2005! There was a problem though, it turns out those at EA actually got his birthdate wrong, he was actually 17 years older then he was meant to be! (He was meant to be 18 as of FM07!), who after every draw I’d fine him one week of wages, and for every loss I fined him two weeks. Thankfully for him we didn’t draw or lose too many games, at least early on.) if it ended up being my ‘super file.’ Woah, so after you took Newcastle and Australia to glory, you too FGR to Championship mediocrity? Quite a career there. What happened after that? Did they ever make the leap to becoming a PL team?

Oh god, the Irish Leagues, reminds me of my worst ever loss in FIFA (To be fair, I was playing it on the Xbox, which isn’t my choice of console, and it was one of the in between FIFAs for me, back when they radically changed the controls.) Basically put, my Leicester team lost to Derry City… who was being played by a drunk 13 year old, who I think was on his… 30-ish something shot. Long story short, the kid was the youngest brother of the woman that was going to my cousin, and well… he was allowed to drink (Because in the UK, you're allowed to drink at home as a kid (Remember that joke from Goal!? (How old do you have to be to get a drink? Uhh... Eleven?) They weren't kidding.) . To my credit, he did defeat everyone else in his state, and they were the ones that owned the game. I still struggled with the controls, having never played FIFA on the Xbox before. Needless to say that on the day of the wedding... he was in a really bad way.

Actually I should ask, with your efforts, did you ever stay longer and benefit from the improved co-efficient that made life easier? Did you also do it when dynamic league reputations came into play? (Still reminds me of one of the biggest WTH moments by the AI).

Ah yes, Vladimir Romanov! Finally got his Scottish club, winning the first eight games in a row… and then sacking the manager the day after. They did finish second, but… gee whiz, what can you say? They were up there, but it did eventually all crash down (they eventually got relegated and entered administration). But I do remember there were some Lithuanian players present, I think they even had a Lithuanian manager at one point. I think he was a pretty big deal when he first came onto the scene, but you know what its like with football clubs and funding. It all became unsustainable for the club (not to mention that Romanov’s own fortunes took a hit). Thankfully, they will be in the Premiership for this season.



Ha, lol. I can tell you that Ferraris had nothing to do with it. I think those guys already have one or a few in their garages (though I did hear Maldini owned a Land Rover). Well hey, what can I say? I just have that sort of charisma. Maldini and co know when they’re talking to a footballing god (who at that stage has never managed a game in his life, and is actually younger than Maldini). I’m still surprised at how easy it is to get World Class Italians (and note, only Italians) to join up. Hell, I tried to get Vinnie Grella, Bresciano, and Aloisi(for the sake of curiosity) to get staff roles. All of them rejected the roles. For my next act, I will get Buffon and Totti to be coaches when they retire. What I’m even more amazed is actually how varied the difficulty in getting the San Marino job. In normal circumstances, it’s actually very hard. Mazza stays on for at least 10 years, and his successor Manzaroli likely stays even longer. Amusingly, if you remove the manager before you start the game, even with Sunday Football experience, all you have to do is just apply for the job, and you get it. Although it got a lot more difficult in FM2012, after the third patch. Even as an experienced international footballer, guess who the board chose? They chose Mazza again. So the only way to get the job now is to actually choose the job from the start, either that or wait a long time (it’s virtually impossible to get sacked from San Marino unless you raise their profile).

Actually, funny you mention that, because I think they had around 4000 watching them take on Fiji. So, 5000 in San Marino shouldn’t be that impressive. In regards to the record, we only won 12-1 (yes, they actually scored a goal). So… despite boasting some of the world’s greatest players, we actually performed averagely against Kiribati (for the record, Fiji and Vanuatu have smashed Kiribati 24-0, 18-0, 17-1 x 2 before). So my Superstar San Marino team likely performed worse than an island nation. (To be fair, it looks like they did improve significantly in the 2015 South Pacific Games, their biggest loss was only 5-1 to Fiji.) And yes, I did swapped out most of the starting XI during the game… but, Australia’s third string killed American Samoa, and when your striker scores 45 in the Premier League, you kinda expect a bit more. Actually… just for lols, in the Euros, I thrashed the Dutch 7-0 in the final (I had to come back from 3-1 to win 4-3 against Croatia with a last minute goal in the Semi). I have to admit, my San Marino team is prone to very weird performances at times.


Well, there’s the question, do you know if Norwood was pro in his time with FGR? If he was, I think that answers our question. Still, interesting choice to move him on to keep fresh. On one hand, yeah I can see why, because you want to make the team to be fresh and unpredictable, especially when you’ve been there for at least 15 years, as you try to get out for once and for all. On the other hand, there’s sometimes a case of ‘if it anin’t broke’ or well… risk the guy going to a promotion contender. Either way, I suppose we’ll see who’ll be singing when they’re winning, lol.



Off to a very good start so far! Just behind on goals scored. Then again, the North Koreas did to away Uzbekistan for one of their wins, so if you want to keep up, you’re going to have to do the same. Is that the first time you didn’t start in the first round? Because usually you guys start there, at least the last few times that I’ve seen. But that is amazing to think. Despite how big the Philippines are, your own manager had to fund from his own pocket to get the team going (wait, that’s the reason why the Philippines didn’t take part in World Cup qualifying, that would explain so much. I mean, it boggles the mind how the Philippines don’t have the resources to do something that nations smaller than it can do). That major milestone, first time you’ve gotten to the semis of the AFF Cup! Moving up the ranks in the AFF! (I remember Younghusband (what a name)) That bugger rejected my offer to join Preston! (Well, he would’ve been backup at Leicester…) At least Hartmann was nice enough to join me. (Of course, reality says that Younghusband has played 70 times for the Philippines, Hartmann just 6… I reject that reality and substitute my own! Hartmann was playing with Messi, Rooney, and Ronaldo (And Aloisi), how could something like this happen?)

Hmm, tis a start! Too bad with the AFC that it is a bit trickier since the number of important games have been reduced, hence making it trickier to reach and sustain. As long as you keep collecting points in the qualifiers, the Philippines should make the top 100 (I think you’re above New Zealand if I’m not mistaken?)

Wow… I mean… holy crap… really? So in other words, he is the perfect Asian! A doctor and a world class footballer! Talk about winning in life! So wait a tic, even with Messi, is still youngest ever? I’d say he would not only be the face of Fillipino Football, but as a standard to all the Pillipino kids, lol. Of course, that does lead me to ask the question, is any of the current crop close to not only making it to a decent team, but actually being considered to play? The only players I know off the top of my head is Younghusband, the Hartmann brothers and Iain Ramsay. Are there also any big ‘misses’ (players that chose other nations over the Philippines?)

Ha nice! The United Football League. I think most of your national team come from here, despite playing abroad initially. I was going to say the pay was perhaps better than what Aldershot Town was offering, but you said semi-pro. I’m just wondering what the main reason is? Is it to grow the game and awareness back at home? The funding will help, but like what Leicester is doing with Thailand, do you know of any clubs that will actually take a group of young men to live and be educated in the nation, so even if they don’t quite make it as footballers, they are still very well off? Who would say would be the big major teams? Also how would you compare the standard of the league in comparison to English, or perhaps the local nations? (I don’t think they’re good enough to get a CL spot at this point in time.)

Better yet… have you ever tried your hand at managing a club in the UFL, and perhaps turn it into the AFF powerhouse? (I take it that like me, you’re trying to make your Phillipino players better at Newcastle. How many have actually made the grade? Heck, have you ever had a Phillipino club as a affiliate, just to turn it into Newcastle nation?)


Well, hopefully. Let’s just hope that eyebrows will not be raised this time around, lol.

 

[TooUglyForFugly]

If I printed out everything in this thread, I wouldn't get through 1/4 of it after a typical visit to the doctor's office. Splendid.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Just a quick post, because it is relevant to our interests:

A map and guide to all the fan owned clubs in the English system. Click to enlarge.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Me too, lol.

Ah Rotherham, I used them as a feeder club in recent times to help them up the ranks. Unfortunately this time around, despite giving them my young Sri Lankan keeper, got relegated because they didn’t score enough goals (Like 15 goals worse than the next team). They had a lot of draws, and were one of the best defensive teams (I contributed a couple of defenders too), but despite a positive GD, it still wasn’t good enough. Allsopp and Foxe! I signed them for my Leicester team in 2007 (I had quite a few Aussies, Kisnobo and Tiatto were already there, as well as Wesolowski. I signed Aloisi as my main striker with Fryatt and Hammond either side of him, and I also got Cisak. I can’t remember if it was that file or the one after my made up Torquay side (I made a rival to Torquay United and started from the very bottom, simply called 'Torquay Towers' (Like Alton Towers, only more of a roller coaster ride!) I called the manager Basil Fawlty (with profile picture included and his actual age), and always had a Spanish Captain (the first one was actually a very awesome goal keeper by the name of Santi Lampon in TCM 2005! There was a problem though, it turns out those at EA actually got his birthdate wrong, he was actually 17 years older then he was meant to be! (He was meant to be 18 as of FM07!), who after every draw I’d fine him one week of wages, and for every loss I fined him two weeks. Thankfully for him we didn’t draw or lose too many games, at least early on.) if it ended up being my ‘super file.’ Woah, so after you took Newcastle and Australia to glory, you too FGR to Championship mediocrity? Quite a career there. What happened after that? Did they ever make the leap to becoming a PL team?

Oh god, the Irish Leagues, reminds me of my worst ever loss in FIFA (To be fair, I was playing it on the Xbox, which isn’t my choice of console, and it was one of the in between FIFAs for me, back when they radically changed the controls.) Basically put, my Leicester team lost to Derry City… who was being played by a drunk 13 year old, who I think was on his… 30-ish something shot. Long story short, the kid was the youngest brother of the woman that was going to my cousin, and well… he was allowed to drink (Because in the UK, you're allowed to drink at home as a kid (Remember that joke from Goal!? (How old do you have to be to get a drink? Uhh... Eleven?) They weren't kidding.) . To my credit, he did defeat everyone else in his state, and they were the ones that owned the game. I still struggled with the controls, having never played FIFA on the Xbox before. Needless to say that on the day of the wedding... he was in a really bad way.

Actually I should ask, with your efforts, did you ever stay longer and benefit from the improved co-efficient that made life easier? Did you also do it when dynamic league reputations came into play? (Still reminds me of one of the biggest WTH moments by the AI).

Ah yes, Vladimir Romanov! Finally got his Scottish club, winning the first eight games in a row… and then sacking the manager the day after. They did finish second, but… gee whiz, what can you say? They were up there, but it did eventually all crash down (they eventually got relegated and entered administration). But I do remember there were some Lithuanian players present, I think they even had a Lithuanian manager at one point. I think he was a pretty big deal when he first came onto the scene, but you know what its like with football clubs and funding. It all became unsustainable for the club (not to mention that Romanov’s own fortunes took a hit). Thankfully, they will be in the Premiership for this season.



Ha, lol. I can tell you that Ferraris had nothing to do with it. I think those guys already have one or a few in their garages (though I did hear Maldini owned a Land Rover). Well hey, what can I say? I just have that sort of charisma. Maldini and co know when they’re talking to a footballing god (who at that stage has never managed a game in his life, and is actually younger than Maldini). I’m still surprised at how easy it is to get World Class Italians (and note, only Italians) to join up. Hell, I tried to get Vinnie Grella, Bresciano, and Aloisi(for the sake of curiosity) to get staff roles. All of them rejected the roles. For my next act, I will get Buffon and Totti to be coaches when they retire. What I’m even more amazed is actually how varied the difficulty in getting the San Marino job. In normal circumstances, it’s actually very hard. Mazza stays on for at least 10 years, and his successor Manzaroli likely stays even longer. Amusingly, if you remove the manager before you start the game, even with Sunday Football experience, all you have to do is just apply for the job, and you get it. Although it got a lot more difficult in FM2012, after the third patch. Even as an experienced international footballer, guess who the board chose? They chose Mazza again. So the only way to get the job now is to actually choose the job from the start, either that or wait a long time (it’s virtually impossible to get sacked from San Marino unless you raise their profile).

Actually, funny you mention that, because I think they had around 4000 watching them take on Fiji. So, 5000 in San Marino shouldn’t be that impressive. In regards to the record, we only won 12-1 (yes, they actually scored a goal). So… despite boasting some of the world’s greatest players, we actually performed averagely against Kiribati (for the record, Fiji and Vanuatu have smashed Kiribati 24-0, 18-0, 17-1 x 2 before). So my Superstar San Marino team likely performed worse than an island nation. (To be fair, it looks like they did improve significantly in the 2015 South Pacific Games, their biggest loss was only 5-1 to Fiji.) And yes, I did swapped out most of the starting XI during the game… but, Australia’s third string killed American Samoa, and when your striker scores 45 in the Premier League, you kinda expect a bit more. Actually… just for lols, in the Euros, I thrashed the Dutch 7-0 in the final (I had to come back from 3-1 to win 4-3 against Croatia with a last minute goal in the Semi). I have to admit, my San Marino team is prone to very weird performances at times.


Well, there’s the question, do you know if Norwood was pro in his time with FGR? If he was, I think that answers our question. Still, interesting choice to move him on to keep fresh. On one hand, yeah I can see why, because you want to make the team to be fresh and unpredictable, especially when you’ve been there for at least 15 years, as you try to get out for once and for all. On the other hand, there’s sometimes a case of ‘if it anin’t broke’ or well… risk the guy going to a promotion contender. Either way, I suppose we’ll see who’ll be singing when they’re winning, lol.



Off to a very good start so far! Just behind on goals scored. Then again, the North Koreas did to away Uzbekistan for one of their wins, so if you want to keep up, you’re going to have to do the same. Is that the first time you didn’t start in the first round? Because usually you guys start there, at least the last few times that I’ve seen. But that is amazing to think. Despite how big the Philippines are, your own manager had to fund from his own pocket to get the team going (wait, that’s the reason why the Philippines didn’t take part in World Cup qualifying, that would explain so much. I mean, it boggles the mind how the Philippines don’t have the resources to do something that nations smaller than it can do). That major milestone, first time you’ve gotten to the semis of the AFF Cup! Moving up the ranks in the AFF! (I remember Younghusband (what a name)) That bugger rejected my offer to join Preston! (Well, he would’ve been backup at Leicester…) At least Hartmann was nice enough to join me. (Of course, reality says that Younghusband has played 70 times for the Philippines, Hartmann just 6… I reject that reality and substitute my own! Hartmann was playing with Messi, Rooney, and Ronaldo (And Aloisi), how could something like this happen?)

Hmm, tis a start! Too bad with the AFC that it is a bit trickier since the number of important games have been reduced, hence making it trickier to reach and sustain. As long as you keep collecting points in the qualifiers, the Philippines should make the top 100 (I think you’re above New Zealand if I’m not mistaken?)

Wow… I mean… holy crap… really? So in other words, he is the perfect Asian! A doctor and a world class footballer! Talk about winning in life! So wait a tic, even with Messi, is still youngest ever? I’d say he would not only be the face of Fillipino Football, but as a standard to all the Pillipino kids, lol. Of course, that does lead me to ask the question, is any of the current crop close to not only making it to a decent team, but actually being considered to play? The only players I know off the top of my head is Younghusband, the Hartmann brothers and Iain Ramsay. Are there also any big ‘misses’ (players that chose other nations over the Philippines?)

Ha nice! The United Football League. I think most of your national team come from here, despite playing abroad initially. I was going to say the pay was perhaps better than what Aldershot Town was offering, but you said semi-pro. I’m just wondering what the main reason is? Is it to grow the game and awareness back at home? The funding will help, but like what Leicester is doing with Thailand, do you know of any clubs that will actually take a group of young men to live and be educated in the nation, so even if they don’t quite make it as footballers, they are still very well off? Who would say would be the big major teams? Also how would you compare the standard of the league in comparison to English, or perhaps the local nations? (I don’t think they’re good enough to get a CL spot at this point in time.)

Better yet… have you ever tried your hand at managing a club in the UFL, and perhaps turn it into the AFF powerhouse? (I take it that like me, you’re trying to make your Phillipino players better at Newcastle. How many have actually made the grade? Heck, have you ever had a Phillipino club as a affiliate, just to turn it into Newcastle nation?)


Well, hopefully. Let’s just hope that eyebrows will not be raised this time around, lol.

The first thing I do whenever I get a new FM is open the database and make FGR my feeder club so I can pump them full of young players. For the likes of Rotherham, Grimsby, Gateshead and Walsall, I normally set up links with Real Madrid and Barcelona with an annual fee of 1m included just to give them a boost as well.

Wow, a team going down with a positive GD? Don't think I've ever seen that before! Must be something of a rarity.

Haha, with all those Aussies plying their trade for Leicester, you might need to rename the club from 'the Foxes' (just realised that Hayden Foxe is a perfectly named player to have in Leicester lol) to 'the Dingos' (okay comedy isn't my strong point admittedly!).

Torquay Towers? LOL. Basil Fawlty sounds like a decent enough manager to have at the helm. It seems just about anyone can manage a club these days. Just ask Mick Mackem, a 67 year old North Korean woman who landed on Wearside to become manager of Sunderland. While her lack of skills was evident from the start (and many wondered why Ellis Short gambled on her appointment), she provided football fans across the nation with many laughs as her outspoken and aggressive nature coupled with her contradictory statements caused many raised eyebrows (that's apparently how Carlo got his 'condition').

Ah fining wages...I miss when you used to be able to do it and give 'no reason'. That's what Mick Mackem did when the administrators came in after the club's financial stability became perilous. I guess signing Archie Thompson with the entire transfer budget, and on 200k weekly wages with a 50% increase every season and wage increases after making only 5 appearances for the club? Just doing her bit to save the club some coin by fining every single player wages (in the interests of fairness).

Haha those were all different careers - would be pretty fun to do a 20-30 year career and manage in multiple leagues/ for different clubs. I think the longest career I did was my 'Supercastle' career on FM2007 - The Toon becoming a global force with multiple champions league and premier league triumphs haha. On my current playthrough, I've actually got FGR promoted to the PL and we're gearing up for our first season in the top flight. I kind of cheated on this playthrough as I sent out a good 10-12 players from Newcastle to FGR for 7 year loans.

Geez, that cousin of yours must have been quite the player! Funnily enough, I seem to be a much better pool player whenever I drink (maybe I don't overthink thinks?)

I don't think the improved co-efficient (IIRC) made much difference (though I was only there for 3-4 seasons I think - must have got sick of all that Guiness! I'm curious now, what is the WTH moment you had?

Ah that's right! I seem to remember think Romanov as an Abramovich in the SPL when he first landed. Glad to hear they are seemingly making a recovery now though - unlike Rangers who I believe missed out on promotion to the SPL.

I suppose when you put it that way, for the likes of Maldini - working as part of the San Marino setup and under the tutelage of the mastermind tactician Fryer Tuck, it's a no brainer. I'm impressed that the San Marino FA seemingly are happy to not be swayed by big names and back home grown talent in their appointments! Just looked up Mazza and he was in charge from 1998 to 2013 - surely would be close to the longest concurrent stint by a manager at international level?

Only 12-1 and even conceding? That's pretty disappointing! Hopefully you let the players know that! Maybe Kiribati rose to the occasion and San Marino's players took the game as more of a training drill? I mean, if you are defeating Croatia and smashing the Dutch, I can perhaps see how it might be hard to find motivation to play at your best when taking on the might of Kirabati.

On Norwood, according to the England C wiki page, it says most players capped for the team are 'full-time professionals with Conference Premier league clubs' and given it was in 2013 when he won his first cap (a half time hat trick against the mighty Bermuda), I'd say he was a professional at FGR (as Vince had been well in control for a few years by that point). Yeah, I'd probably prefer to have kept him myself as he's also only 24 but maybe it was his choice to leave -maybe Pennock (our manager) let him know he'd be down the pecking order?

I think it might be the first time we avoided the first round of qualifiers (which I believe is usually for the bottom 10-12 teams in the confederation) which is an encouraging sign in itself. I'd also expect Uzbekistan to improve quickly too - believe they narrowly missed out on the playoff spot for the AFC for the last world cup (losing on penalties to Jordan - who subsequently loss to Uruguay), so will need to fight hard to stay in the chase. Yeah, I was surprised to learn that as well - basketball is the big sport there but hopefully football is starting to make some inroads now. It seems we could be a sleeping giant of sorts given the population size.

Alcantara certainly seems like a pretty good guy and role model for other Asian players to follow - perhaps the only blemish on his name is he was apparently involved with the Spanish fascists in the 1930s. But apparently yes, he is (even with Messi included) still the youngest to play and/or score for the senior team. A shame his playing days were between 1912 and 1927, he must have had some ability!

Looking at the (local born) current crop, no one really stands out as possibly something special sadly but it seems foreign born players are becoming more and more open to the idea of playing the national side which helps improve the national pool. In terms of 'near misses' -this part actually makes me a bit sad! The Canadian de Guzman brothers - Julian and Jonathan were both eligible to represent the Philippines. Julian playing for clubs like Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga and Hannover in the Bundesliga...while his younger brother Jonathan plays currently for a little club called Napoli. Perhaps the biggest one to miss of all though is David Alaba who plays for the mighty Bayern Munich and has a Filipino mother. Now imagine if those 3 had chosen to represent the Philippines! In terms of who the 'biggest' names of the current crop are Stephan Schrock currently plays in the Bundesliga second division and Roland Muller plays for Swiss top tier club Servette. If we go back to the Italian theme, Simone Rota used to play in the Serie D (which I think you mentioned was essentially 'the conference of Italy').

I'll need to have a go managing in the UFL one day! And I think I know what team I'll manage - Team Socceroo FC (http://www.teamsocceroo.com/). Interesting (and maybe a little sadly), there is no actual link to Australia despite the name. I'm surprised to see many players (even those born abroad) in the national setup playing in the UFL. I'm guessing the money on offer must be relatively good? If nothing else, lots of things are cheap in the Philippines so maybe (if you can survive the humidity) it beats the cold of England's non league scene? Global FC (who Palami is chairman of) seem to be one of the bigger clubs and are the reigning champs.

I'll need to try setting up some links next time around I think! I always make a point to take every free agent Filipino player on trial every preseason to try and help improve their chances of being picked up by other clubs lol. I used to even import some of the Filipino clubs into the English Football League back in the day just for laughs. Had a bit of a look at some highlights and its hard to say where the quality would be - definitely a step down from the Conference (which as we mentioned a few posts is getting stronger every season and more and more professional/full time clubs are filling its ranks). I guess as the saying goes, Rome (or should that be Manila?) wasn't built in a day. As long as the national team keep progressing, the interest in the game should continue to flourish and with it, hopefully the local UFL.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

The first thing I do whenever I get a new FM is open the database and make FGR my feeder club so I can pump them full of young players. For the likes of Rotherham, Grimsby, Gateshead and Walsall, I normally set up links with Real Madrid and Barcelona with an annual fee of 1m included just to give them a boost as well.

Wow, a team going down with a positive GD? Don't think I've ever seen that before! Must be something of a rarity.

Haha, with all those Aussies plying their trade for Leicester, you might need to rename the club from 'the Foxes' (just realised that Hayden Foxe is a perfectly named player to have in Leicester lol) to 'the Dingos' (okay comedy isn't my strong point admittedly!).

Torquay Towers? LOL. Basil Fawlty sounds like a decent enough manager to have at the helm. It seems just about anyone can manage a club these days. Just ask Mick Mackem, a 67 year old North Korean woman who landed on Wearside to become manager of Sunderland. While her lack of skills was evident from the start (and many wondered why Ellis Short gambled on her appointment), she provided football fans across the nation with many laughs as her outspoken and aggressive nature coupled with her contradictory statements caused many raised eyebrows (that's apparently how Carlo got his 'condition').

Ah fining wages...I miss when you used to be able to do it and give 'no reason'. That's what Mick Mackem did when the administrators came in after the club's financial stability became perilous. I guess signing Archie Thompson with the entire transfer budget, and on 200k weekly wages with a 50% increase every season and wage increases after making only 5 appearances for the club? Just doing her bit to save the club some coin by fining every single player wages (in the interests of fairness).

Haha those were all different careers - would be pretty fun to do a 20-30 year career and manage in multiple leagues/ for different clubs. I think the longest career I did was my 'Supercastle' career on FM2007 - The Toon becoming a global force with multiple champions league and premier league triumphs haha. On my current playthrough, I've actually got FGR promoted to the PL and we're gearing up for our first season in the top flight. I kind of cheated on this playthrough as I sent out a good 10-12 players from Newcastle to FGR for 7 year loans.

Geez, that cousin of yours must have been quite the player! Funnily enough, I seem to be a much better pool player whenever I drink (maybe I don't overthink thinks?)

I don't think the improved co-efficient (IIRC) made much difference (though I was only there for 3-4 seasons I think - must have got sick of all that Guiness! I'm curious now, what is the WTH moment you had?

Ah that's right! I seem to remember think Romanov as an Abramovich in the SPL when he first landed. Glad to hear they are seemingly making a recovery now though - unlike Rangers who I believe missed out on promotion to the SPL.

I suppose when you put it that way, for the likes of Maldini - working as part of the San Marino setup and under the tutelage of the mastermind tactician Fryer Tuck, it's a no brainer. I'm impressed that the San Marino FA seemingly are happy to not be swayed by big names and back home grown talent in their appointments! Just looked up Mazza and he was in charge from 1998 to 2013 - surely would be close to the longest concurrent stint by a manager at international level?

Only 12-1 and even conceding? That's pretty disappointing! Hopefully you let the players know that! Maybe Kiribati rose to the occasion and San Marino's players took the game as more of a training drill? I mean, if you are defeating Croatia and smashing the Dutch, I can perhaps see how it might be hard to find motivation to play at your best when taking on the might of Kirabati.

On Norwood, according to the England C wiki page, it says most players capped for the team are 'full-time professionals with Conference Premier league clubs' and given it was in 2013 when he won his first cap (a half time hat trick against the mighty Bermuda), I'd say he was a professional at FGR (as Vince had been well in control for a few years by that point). Yeah, I'd probably prefer to have kept him myself as he's also only 24 but maybe it was his choice to leave -maybe Pennock (our manager) let him know he'd be down the pecking order?

I think it might be the first time we avoided the first round of qualifiers (which I believe is usually for the bottom 10-12 teams in the confederation) which is an encouraging sign in itself. I'd also expect Uzbekistan to improve quickly too - believe they narrowly missed out on the playoff spot for the AFC for the last world cup (losing on penalties to Jordan - who subsequently loss to Uruguay), so will need to fight hard to stay in the chase. Yeah, I was surprised to learn that as well - basketball is the big sport there but hopefully football is starting to make some inroads now. It seems we could be a sleeping giant of sorts given the population size.

Alcantara certainly seems like a pretty good guy and role model for other Asian players to follow - perhaps the only blemish on his name is he was apparently involved with the Spanish fascists in the 1930s. But apparently yes, he is (even with Messi included) still the youngest to play and/or score for the senior team. A shame his playing days were between 1912 and 1927, he must have had some ability!

Looking at the (local born) current crop, no one really stands out as possibly something special sadly but it seems foreign born players are becoming more and more open to the idea of playing the national side which helps improve the national pool. In terms of 'near misses' -this part actually makes me a bit sad! The Canadian de Guzman brothers - Julian and Jonathan were both eligible to represent the Philippines. Julian playing for clubs like Deportivo La Coruna in La Liga and Hannover in the Bundesliga...while his younger brother Jonathan plays currently for a little club called Napoli. Perhaps the biggest one to miss of all though is David Alaba who plays for the mighty Bayern Munich and has a Filipino mother. Now imagine if those 3 had chosen to represent the Philippines! In terms of who the 'biggest' names of the current crop are Stephan Schrock currently plays in the Bundesliga second division and Roland Muller plays for Swiss top tier club Servette. If we go back to the Italian theme, Simone Rota used to play in the Serie D (which I think you mentioned was essentially 'the conference of Italy').

I'll need to have a go managing in the UFL one day! And I think I know what team I'll manage - Team Socceroo FC (http://www.teamsocceroo.com/). Interesting (and maybe a little sadly), there is no actual link to Australia despite the name. I'm surprised to see many players (even those born abroad) in the national setup playing in the UFL. I'm guessing the money on offer must be relatively good? If nothing else, lots of things are cheap in the Philippines so maybe (if you can survive the humidity) it beats the cold of England's non league scene? Global FC (who Palami is chairman of) seem to be one of the bigger clubs and are the reigning champs.

I'll need to try setting up some links next time around I think! I always make a point to take every free agent Filipino player on trial every preseason to try and help improve their chances of being picked up by other clubs lol. I used to even import some of the Filipino clubs into the English Football League back in the day just for laughs. Had a bit of a look at some highlights and its hard to say where the quality would be - definitely a step down from the Conference (which as we mentioned a few posts is getting stronger every season and more and more professional/full time clubs are filling its ranks). I guess as the saying goes, Rome (or should that be Manila?) wasn't built in a day. As long as the national team keep progressing, the interest in the game should continue to flourish and with it, hopefully the local UFL.

You sneaky devil. Of course, there are a few favourites of mine that I will try my utmost best to get onto good terms to help them out in different leagues. I usually like to build up managerial relationships, but in 15, I just like the option of just choosing them from a list. It gives a sense of accomplishment when Vichai trusts me to pick the best club. To think I got Melbourne Victory (who I haven’t touched in game, but are winning virtually everything and are now a 4 star club) as my affiliate!


I believe it was close, +2 it was. The closest we’ve had in normal circumstances was Man City (97-98) with -1. I should’ve given them Harry (who actually chose to play for Cyprus instead of St Kitts), he would’ve saved them.

Lol, for my 07 file, it seemed more suitable. Actually, for the 15 file, the English Media had already given us a new nickname: San Leicesterino. Truth be told, I did it for the name, even though I know he’s a good player, lol. Actually, I think I had 5 players with the last name of Fox. Now that I think about it, in real life, we have Brandon Fox and Christan Fuchs (German for Fox) in the team.

Ah yes, you told me a bit about her, although what cruel parent calls their girl ‘Mick?’ Unless there’s something else going on, lol. Tell me, did she specialise in the 0-0-11 (Where even the goalkeeper was up field) as well? [Ah Carlo, you were pretty cool to deal with in 07]. Hey, she did get Archie Thompson, that’s alright in my book. Yeah, for 200k, but he totally deserves it! The only player to score a hattrick… plus one! Lol. What other big names did she have playing for the Black Cats?

The longest one I did was the Tier 15 challenge, where I had to download a huge league pack to get down that far. I pretty much had to disable everything but England (as much as it pained me) to play it at a reasonable speed. I made my own Leicester Club and started in the Leicester and District Football League Division 2. Brand new club with the worst facilities. The only thing I had was a legacy player, who was age 16. I had to make sure he had absolutely no interest to play anywhere else but for the club (I did give him the benefit of a favourite club). My object was to make the Premier League, and ensure my legacy player saw the Premier League. To say it took a long time is an understatement. I’m glad to say that we were able to become Champions of the World, winning the Premier League, Champions League, and even the Club World Cup (I know it’s a bit silly, but I’ve always considered the Club World Cup as the ‘final’ despite it being less prestigious than the UEFA CL). Of course, someone had to release the full 24 tier pack for FM14. If it can be done for FM15, than I will give it a shot. My Football Manager Life can finally feel complete if I can do the full English Pyramid (That won’t stop me from playing though!)

If it was on the PC, I would’ve whipped him. Needless to say that my older cousin’s friends seemed very amused by the fact I was supported Leicester, lol.

Ah, fair enough, on both accounts. Alright, basically, FM12. This one I was in charge of Leicester and Australia for this save. I defeated England and Italy in friendlies and was expecting my ranking to go up. Then I saw it, biggest improver was Albania, 84thto 19th. Qualified at the top of their Group, which had France and Bosnia, and qualified for Euro 2012 (Reality: They didn’t win their last 4 games and missed the Euros). Come Euros, they lost in the Semis. Top 10 now. I actually decided to look in the Champions League. Their representative (Korce) made it to the Semis, losing to Chelsea. (In reality, it was actually the Cyprus team APOEL. Ironically, APOEL played Korce, since Korche knocked out APOEL, it seems that they performed in a similar manner (APOEL made it to the quarters)) then next year, they made the quarters. So next season, they had two representatives in the Champions League and were ranked 13th. They were the best ranked European team in the World Cup, and then they were 4th. I decided to bite the bullet and recruit two defenders, one of them with the most random name I have ever seen. The other was Elseid Hysaj. Both of them did very well for Leicester.

Albania did eventually reach 1st (thanks to the fact Europe has more opportunities to get their ranking up), but the thing that surprised me is that Albania actually reached 6th on the league coeffients, overtaking France. Their teams performed decently enough to get there. Needless to say that I inspected what was going on. Their team had this awesome German-Albanian regen up forward, which was originally bought by the Albanian club from Bayern. There was also Berisha along side him. The team had a mixture of German, Swiss, Italian and Greek players, all of which were part Albanian, (they weren’t until Albania chose them) some of which were playing for Albanian clubs. I’m pretty sure a few of them are playing for Switzerland and Serbia in real life. I don’t about the Germans, since they had fake names. But basically because of the lucky results, this actually strengthened the team and league (the league only improved because of the results). So basically, by the time I was 10 years in my game, Albania were a force both internationally and domestically, all thanks to dual national players with higher probability of being good players. They didn’t win anything, but they were up there being competitive (but just not good enough). The weirdest thing is that I had very little influence in this outside of training a few select individuals. I’ve seen other nations rise up, but this was the first I’ve seen both club and country doing well.


Yep, Hearts got automatics over Rangers. So no three division titles in three years for Rangers, which actually means they’re worse than Gretna. Oh god, Gertna. You know the theory of what happens if Celtic and Rangers ever entered the English system. Gertna is a case of what happens when a club leaves the English pyramid, and enters the Scottish one and starts at the bottom: They become a top team in 3 years! Just for reference, Gretna was a Northern Premier League Team (or back in 2002, a Tier 6 team), so yeah, says a lot about Scottish Football! (Their achievements have totally nothing to do with the fact a wealthy owner came and took over the club, which got them up there in the first place, and due to wreckless spending, actually ending up destroying the club in their maiden trip to the top tier before folding and needed to be reborn. Nah, nothing like that at all. They only folded because they knew they would walk the SPL. Too good for this sinful league, so they had to fold, because it was unfair!)

That’s right, and totally nothing to do with tax free goods and San Maranese banking. Oh no. The government’s taken quite a few steps to clean up that dirty reputation. Yeah, a commitment to homegrown talent. Also, Mazza has more experience than me, he’s been capped by San Marino five times! According to UEFA, Mazza is ranked 5th in terms of longest stays. There’s Winterbottom of England (46-62), Phillipp of Luxembourg (85-01), Meisi of Austria (19-37, he actually died while in the role). They say Pozzo is the longest (Italy’s manager, winner of the 34 and 38 World Cups.) His reign was between 29 to 48. Of course, you may have spotted the problem. It should be noted that they played internationals between fellow axis countries, as well as some neutral countries. Morton Olsson is about to enter the top 5, he’s been the Danish manager since 2000. Of course, these are only UEFA countries, I don’t know about the others, and I certainly won’t be surprised if there’s some country that has a manager that has been there for 20+ years.

I know, but I think credit to Kirbati. Clearly they have improved, not losing in double digits in the South Pacific games. So they’ve reduced the number of goals conceded by at least 60%! I think it doesn’t help when I’ve playing matches every 2nd day and the players are getting tired. (There’s actually a bug that allows you to play warmup games every day, but I recommend against that, because it will injure your players, and you may lose to even the weakest teams (They had like 10% condition, and they were super fit as well.). The Dutch was the weirdest game. Usually with big teams, they would just do enough to win. They just killed the Dutch, to a point where no Dutch Players actually make it into the Euro XI or even the bench, all because of the final.

Well, there we are. Just play for a non-league team, and you’re apples. Still mighty weird though… Still, at least you can boast an International? Lol.

Poor Uzbekistan, they can never catch a break. They really should’ve qualified for a World Cup by now, but nope, they get done by Bahrain and Jordan… But yeah, no time for rest, you’ve got to keep it up. You definitely would, and for some reason, I can see a big rivalry with Indonesia (AFF rivals perhaps?) Could be quite interesting if you guys finally start to hit your straps.

Very impressive, pity about his politics, and well, 1912-1927.

Wait, the de Guzman bros? Alaba? Darn, those are some big misses there. But tell you what, says a lot if they can represent a higher level. Actually, no. Alaba, yes. The de Guzman bros for Canada? Well, Canada are meant to be a big fish in a small pond, but the results they get… hoo boy. Haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 1986, which was the only time. Group stages in the last three Gold Cups. Considered a third tier nation according to CONCACAF, below Haiti… Then again, the Phillipines weren’t much better in the AFC, lol.

Wait, what? Lol. Socceroo FC, with no link to Australia… that’s like a Thailand team calling themselves All Blacks RC. I think I can see a Kangaroo Mascot there, and looking at the squad list, it looks like the number 1 is retired for the mascot (just like how the number 50 is retired for Filbert Fox). Looks like they’re doing a lot of community work… oh my god, a C License Coaching Course? Time to get some credentials and become a proper manager for real! Lol. [Wait, 14 days? Then why do I have to wait 3 months to get my new license in FM?] They do a lot of community work, that much is obvious. I can’t see anything that that remotely suggesting why they ended up calling the club the Socceroos. Perhaps this is a golden opportunity to ask our newly promoted club why they are called that. At least the other clubs have some relationship, or used it for inspiration (Even Melbourne Heart had it). This… I don’t get it. Wait… 2005… if the answer is John Aloisi, then I will totally make them my next affiliate club and spread the world of Leicester there.

Indeed, and cash in on some pesos! OK, Tier 6 football at best, noting that the lower leagues are getting stronger as they become more professional. But yeah, as long as the team gets results, interest in the sport will grow without question. Actually… something that needs to be asked. Considering that we’re Australians, it seems a bit hypocritical, but… the national team nickname is the Askals… alright, maybe it’s like the Rats of Toobruk, but I have to ask, why Askals?

 

[Dirty Bird]

Just spent the 12 quid to renew my (part) ownership of FC United for next season

 

[NUFC Tiger]

You sneaky devil. Of course, there are a few favourites of mine that I will try my utmost best to get onto good terms to help them out in different leagues. I usually like to build up managerial relationships, but in 15, I just like the option of just choosing them from a list. It gives a sense of accomplishment when Vichai trusts me to pick the best club. To think I got Melbourne Victory (who I haven’t touched in game, but are winning virtually everything and are now a 4 star club) as my affiliate!


I believe it was close, +2 it was. The closest we’ve had in normal circumstances was Man City (97-98) with -1. I should’ve given them Harry (who actually chose to play for Cyprus instead of St Kitts), he would’ve saved them.

Lol, for my 07 file, it seemed more suitable. Actually, for the 15 file, the English Media had already given us a new nickname: San Leicesterino. Truth be told, I did it for the name, even though I know he’s a good player, lol. Actually, I think I had 5 players with the last name of Fox. Now that I think about it, in real life, we have Brandon Fox and Christan Fuchs (German for Fox) in the team.

Ah yes, you told me a bit about her, although what cruel parent calls their girl ‘Mick?’ Unless there’s something else going on, lol. Tell me, did she specialise in the 0-0-11 (Where even the goalkeeper was up field) as well? [Ah Carlo, you were pretty cool to deal with in 07]. Hey, she did get Archie Thompson, that’s alright in my book. Yeah, for 200k, but he totally deserves it! The only player to score a hattrick… plus one! Lol. What other big names did she have playing for the Black Cats?

The longest one I did was the Tier 15 challenge, where I had to download a huge league pack to get down that far. I pretty much had to disable everything but England (as much as it pained me) to play it at a reasonable speed. I made my own Leicester Club and started in the Leicester and District Football League Division 2. Brand new club with the worst facilities. The only thing I had was a legacy player, who was age 16. I had to make sure he had absolutely no interest to play anywhere else but for the club (I did give him the benefit of a favourite club). My object was to make the Premier League, and ensure my legacy player saw the Premier League. To say it took a long time is an understatement. I’m glad to say that we were able to become Champions of the World, winning the Premier League, Champions League, and even the Club World Cup (I know it’s a bit silly, but I’ve always considered the Club World Cup as the ‘final’ despite it being less prestigious than the UEFA CL). Of course, someone had to release the full 24 tier pack for FM14. If it can be done for FM15, than I will give it a shot. My Football Manager Life can finally feel complete if I can do the full English Pyramid (That won’t stop me from playing though!)

If it was on the PC, I would’ve whipped him. Needless to say that my older cousin’s friends seemed very amused by the fact I was supported Leicester, lol.

Ah, fair enough, on both accounts. Alright, basically, FM12. This one I was in charge of Leicester and Australia for this save. I defeated England and Italy in friendlies and was expecting my ranking to go up. Then I saw it, biggest improver was Albania, 84thto 19th. Qualified at the top of their Group, which had France and Bosnia, and qualified for Euro 2012 (Reality: They didn’t win their last 4 games and missed the Euros). Come Euros, they lost in the Semis. Top 10 now. I actually decided to look in the Champions League. Their representative (Korce) made it to the Semis, losing to Chelsea. (In reality, it was actually the Cyprus team APOEL. Ironically, APOEL played Korce, since Korche knocked out APOEL, it seems that they performed in a similar manner (APOEL made it to the quarters)) then next year, they made the quarters. So next season, they had two representatives in the Champions League and were ranked 13th. They were the best ranked European team in the World Cup, and then they were 4th. I decided to bite the bullet and recruit two defenders, one of them with the most random name I have ever seen. The other was Elseid Hysaj. Both of them did very well for Leicester.

Albania did eventually reach 1st (thanks to the fact Europe has more opportunities to get their ranking up), but the thing that surprised me is that Albania actually reached 6th on the league coeffients, overtaking France. Their teams performed decently enough to get there. Needless to say that I inspected what was going on. Their team had this awesome German-Albanian regen up forward, which was originally bought by the Albanian club from Bayern. There was also Berisha along side him. The team had a mixture of German, Swiss, Italian and Greek players, all of which were part Albanian, (they weren’t until Albania chose them) some of which were playing for Albanian clubs. I’m pretty sure a few of them are playing for Switzerland and Serbia in real life. I don’t about the Germans, since they had fake names. But basically because of the lucky results, this actually strengthened the team and league (the league only improved because of the results). So basically, by the time I was 10 years in my game, Albania were a force both internationally and domestically, all thanks to dual national players with higher probability of being good players. They didn’t win anything, but they were up there being competitive (but just not good enough). The weirdest thing is that I had very little influence in this outside of training a few select individuals. I’ve seen other nations rise up, but this was the first I’ve seen both club and country doing well.


Yep, Hearts got automatics over Rangers. So no three division titles in three years for Rangers, which actually means they’re worse than Gretna. Oh god, Gertna. You know the theory of what happens if Celtic and Rangers ever entered the English system. Gertna is a case of what happens when a club leaves the English pyramid, and enters the Scottish one and starts at the bottom: They become a top team in 3 years! Just for reference, Gretna was a Northern Premier League Team (or back in 2002, a Tier 6 team), so yeah, says a lot about Scottish Football! (Their achievements have totally nothing to do with the fact a wealthy owner came and took over the club, which got them up there in the first place, and due to wreckless spending, actually ending up destroying the club in their maiden trip to the top tier before folding and needed to be reborn. Nah, nothing like that at all. They only folded because they knew they would walk the SPL. Too good for this sinful league, so they had to fold, because it was unfair!)

That’s right, and totally nothing to do with tax free goods and San Maranese banking. Oh no. The government’s taken quite a few steps to clean up that dirty reputation. Yeah, a commitment to homegrown talent. Also, Mazza has more experience than me, he’s been capped by San Marino five times! According to UEFA, Mazza is ranked 5th in terms of longest stays. There’s Winterbottom of England (46-62), Phillipp of Luxembourg (85-01), Meisi of Austria (19-37, he actually died while in the role). They say Pozzo is the longest (Italy’s manager, winner of the 34 and 38 World Cups.) His reign was between 29 to 48. Of course, you may have spotted the problem. It should be noted that they played internationals between fellow axis countries, as well as some neutral countries. Morton Olsson is about to enter the top 5, he’s been the Danish manager since 2000. Of course, these are only UEFA countries, I don’t know about the others, and I certainly won’t be surprised if there’s some country that has a manager that has been there for 20+ years.

I know, but I think credit to Kirbati. Clearly they have improved, not losing in double digits in the South Pacific games. So they’ve reduced the number of goals conceded by at least 60%! I think it doesn’t help when I’ve playing matches every 2nd day and the players are getting tired. (There’s actually a bug that allows you to play warmup games every day, but I recommend against that, because it will injure your players, and you may lose to even the weakest teams (They had like 10% condition, and they were super fit as well.). The Dutch was the weirdest game. Usually with big teams, they would just do enough to win. They just killed the Dutch, to a point where no Dutch Players actually make it into the Euro XI or even the bench, all because of the final.

Well, there we are. Just play for a non-league team, and you’re apples. Still mighty weird though… Still, at least you can boast an International? Lol.

Poor Uzbekistan, they can never catch a break. They really should’ve qualified for a World Cup by now, but nope, they get done by Bahrain and Jordan… But yeah, no time for rest, you’ve got to keep it up. You definitely would, and for some reason, I can see a big rivalry with Indonesia (AFF rivals perhaps?) Could be quite interesting if you guys finally start to hit your straps.

Very impressive, pity about his politics, and well, 1912-1927.

Wait, the de Guzman bros? Alaba? Darn, those are some big misses there. But tell you what, says a lot if they can represent a higher level. Actually, no. Alaba, yes. The de Guzman bros for Canada? Well, Canada are meant to be a big fish in a small pond, but the results they get… hoo boy. Haven’t qualified for a World Cup since 1986, which was the only time. Group stages in the last three Gold Cups. Considered a third tier nation according to CONCACAF, below Haiti… Then again, the Phillipines weren’t much better in the AFC, lol.

Wait, what? Lol. Socceroo FC, with no link to Australia… that’s like a Thailand team calling themselves All Blacks RC. I think I can see a Kangaroo Mascot there, and looking at the squad list, it looks like the number 1 is retired for the mascot (just like how the number 50 is retired for Filbert Fox). Looks like they’re doing a lot of community work… oh my god, a C License Coaching Course? Time to get some credentials and become a proper manager for real! Lol. [Wait, 14 days? Then why do I have to wait 3 months to get my new license in FM?] They do a lot of community work, that much is obvious. I can’t see anything that that remotely suggesting why they ended up calling the club the Socceroos. Perhaps this is a golden opportunity to ask our newly promoted club why they are called that. At least the other clubs have some relationship, or used it for inspiration (Even Melbourne Heart had it). This… I don’t get it. Wait… 2005… if the answer is John Aloisi, then I will totally make them my next affiliate club and spread the world of Leicester there.

Indeed, and cash in on some pesos! OK, Tier 6 football at best, noting that the lower leagues are getting stronger as they become more professional. But yeah, as long as the team gets results, interest in the sport will grow without question. Actually… something that needs to be asked. Considering that we’re Australians, it seems a bit hypocritical, but… the national team nickname is the Askals… alright, maybe it’s like the Rats of Toobruk, but I have to ask, why Askals?

Sorry for my slow reply FT - haven't been able to get on much in the last few days! Hopefully should be smooth sailing with end of financial year woes done!

So Leicester have conquered Thailand and are exerting their influence into Australia now? Good stuff! Maybe you'd be so kind as to assist the Jets next? We could use the help! I tend to agree that it's more enjoyable to be chummy with the owner after putting in the hard yards first. I think my best affiliate ever in an FM game was back on 2007 when I had quite the working relationship with Skoda Xanthi FC in Greece. At the time, my Supercastle team was conquering all comers in the Champions League and I was sending nearly all my talented u21 players for sun, souvalkis and football in Greece with the unheralded Xanthi. With the influx of talent, the club went from a bit of an also ran to a (at the time) UEFA Cup regular and mixed it with the top order clubs in Greece. Was quite satisfying to say the least!

Even having a negative GD of single digits would be a pretty bitter pill to swallow if your club ultimately still went down. It suggests not being that far off/being totally outclassed.

5 Fox's in the squad eh? Bit of a Wolf (or should that be Fox) pack happening? Actually that reminds me, when I was managing the Socceroos one time, we played a friendly against Equatorial Guinea and the game had to fill their team out with regens (as their were no actual players in my game) and IIRC, there was about 7 different Traore's in the starting line up! Quite the footballing family if they all hailed from the same family!

I think 'Mick' was short for 'Mickina'. She was very attack minded - with her star signing Archie playing as the team's sweeper keeper! I don't think Archie minded too much mind you on his generous wages and hefty sign on bonus. As for her other signings, she took a very multicultural approach and preferred to sign free agents from relatively unsuccessful nations. I believe there was a Pakistani player in the team's midst and a few others representing 'minnow' nations. All were on big money too IIRC so they could help fund the game in their respective home nations.

Wow, a Tier 15 challenge? That's insane - never tried that myself! Would be quite the challenge I imagine. One of the fun scenarios I like to do is create a new PL club with no history or players and an average reputation; and see if I can keep them up by building a team of transfer listed, loan listed and free agent players. Essentially building a team from scratch, hiring staff etc. And by the way, I share your views on the World Club Cup - underrated tournament in my eyes also!

Ha why were they amused you supported Leicester?

Nice one, Albanian's another one I've got a soft spot for (maybe its the flag?). Sounds like they had a bit of a golden generation all coming together at the same time - I'm sure the fans would have loved to see that lol.

Wow, that's quite a meteoric rise for Gretna - I seem to recall the name from the World Game show on SBS back in the day. Did they play in a cup final or something on the way up through the ranks?

Mazza was doing alright then to be in the role for as long as he was. I'm guessing the San Maranese FA must have been quite relaxed with the targets they set him haha. The man surely would be in line for a statue or something for his service to the nation?

Indeed the de Guzman brothers and Alaba - obviously can't fault them for playing for more competitive teams but maybe next FM, I might just adjust their nationalities and see how the Philippines perform then! Canada I've always been confused by, they have quite some talent available to them but just can't see to even consistently beat some of the weaker Caribbean nations. I've always thought they should be doing better with what they have than they've actually managed. I guess John Carver's stint with Toronto might have helped set the game back a few years!

Yes, very bizarre about Socceroo FC isn't it? I thought it might be a team of ex pats or something like that but from what I can see on the website, there is 0% linking them to Australia (apart from the name I guess).

Haha I'm not actually sure why the national team is nicknamed the 'Askals' (guessing you'll now know the translation is roughly 'mongrel or street dog'. I actually asked my mum this the last time I saw her and she said it might be due to the Philippines having a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, American, Spanish ancestry amongst the general population (so the 'mongrel' bit might be a bit like a way of saying the team represents the nation as a whole). I'm guessing it has a bit of a pride in the name like the Rats of Toobruk carries - maybe it was historically a barb thrown at the players from other nations that they've since adopted and wear as a badge of honour?

I guess it probably also sounds more ferocious and intimidating than the 'Carabaos' (which is a type of Water Buffalo found in the Philippines lol).

 

[Bojan KantKick]

NUFC Tiger may as well rename this thread to 'TLDR'

 

[NUFC Tiger]

NUFC Tiger may as well rename this thread to 'TLDR'

Haha you can blame 'Newcomer of the year' Fryer Tuck for that Bojan!

Feel like I have to write an essay every time he posts because I have too many questions. The guy is like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.


Something more manageable, apparently our season ticket sales are down 30% - Ashley's 'pledge' to spend money and actively 'try and win something' seem to have seemingly failed to convince large sections of fans to renew for the season ahead.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Haha you can blame 'Newcomer of the year' Fryer Tuck for that Bojan!

Feel like I have to write an essay every time he posts because I have too many questions. The guy is like a walking encyclopedia of knowledge.


Something more manageable, apparently our season ticket sales are down 30% - Ashley's 'pledge' to spend money and actively 'try and win something' seem to have seemingly failed to convince large sections of fans to renew for the season ahead.

Yeah, have you signed anyone yet? Proof is in the pudding Ashley.

 

[Milang_Panthers]

Just a quick post, because it is relevant to our interests:

A map and guide to all the fan owned clubs in the English system. Click to enlarge.

Darlo

 

[NUFC Tiger]

Yeah, have you signed anyone yet? Proof is in the pudding Ashley.

Too true mate, a lack of activity hasn't really done much to generate any excitement (not that the Wally with a Brolly was seen as many fans first choice either).

Well I guess we've signed someone - apparently McClaren will be helping out in the club's shop as our umbrella salesman specialist.

 

[Fryer Tuck]

Sorry for my slow reply FT - haven't been able to get on much in the last few days! Hopefully should be smooth sailing with end of financial year woes done!

So Leicester have conquered Thailand and are exerting their influence into Australia now? Good stuff! Maybe you'd be so kind as to assist the Jets next? We could use the help! I tend to agree that it's more enjoyable to be chummy with the owner after putting in the hard yards first. I think my best affiliate ever in an FM game was back on 2007 when I had quite the working relationship with Skoda Xanthi FC in Greece. At the time, my Supercastle team was conquering all comers in the Champions League and I was sending nearly all my talented u21 players for sun, souvalkis and football in Greece with the unheralded Xanthi. With the influx of talent, the club went from a bit of an also ran to a (at the time) UEFA Cup regular and mixed it with the top order clubs in Greece. Was quite satisfying to say the least!

Even having a negative GD of single digits would be a pretty bitter pill to swallow if your club ultimately still went down. It suggests not being that far off/being totally outclassed.

5 Fox's in the squad eh? Bit of a Wolf (or should that be Fox) pack happening? Actually that reminds me, when I was managing the Socceroos one time, we played a friendly against Equatorial Guinea and the game had to fill their team out with regens (as their were no actual players in my game) and IIRC, there was about 7 different Traore's in the starting line up! Quite the footballing family if they all hailed from the same family!

I think 'Mick' was short for 'Mickina'. She was very attack minded - with her star signing Archie playing as the team's sweeper keeper! I don't think Archie minded too much mind you on his generous wages and hefty sign on bonus. As for her other signings, she took a very multicultural approach and preferred to sign free agents from relatively unsuccessful nations. I believe there was a Pakistani player in the team's midst and a few others representing 'minnow' nations. All were on big money too IIRC so they could help fund the game in their respective home nations.

Wow, a Tier 15 challenge? That's insane - never tried that myself! Would be quite the challenge I imagine. One of the fun scenarios I like to do is create a new PL club with no history or players and an average reputation; and see if I can keep them up by building a team of transfer listed, loan listed and free agent players. Essentially building a team from scratch, hiring staff etc. And by the way, I share your views on the World Club Cup - underrated tournament in my eyes also!

Ha why were they amused you supported Leicester?

Nice one, Albanian's another one I've got a soft spot for (maybe its the flag?). Sounds like they had a bit of a golden generation all coming together at the same time - I'm sure the fans would have loved to see that lol.

Wow, that's quite a meteoric rise for Gretna - I seem to recall the name from the World Game show on SBS back in the day. Did they play in a cup final or something on the way up through the ranks?

Mazza was doing alright then to be in the role for as long as he was. I'm guessing the San Maranese FA must have been quite relaxed with the targets they set him haha. The man surely would be in line for a statue or something for his service to the nation?


Indeed the de Guzman brothers and Alaba - obviously can't fault them for playing for more competitive teams but maybe next FM, I might just adjust their nationalities and see how the Philippines perform then! Canada I've always been confused by, they have quite some talent available to them but just can't see to even consistently beat some of the weaker Caribbean nations. I've always thought they should be doing better with what they have than they've actually managed. I guess John Carver's stint with Toronto might have helped set the game back a few years!

Yes, very bizarre about Socceroo FC isn't it? I thought it might be a team of ex pats or something like that but from what I can see on the website, there is 0% linking them to Australia (apart from the name I guess).

Haha I'm not actually sure why the national team is nicknamed the 'Askals' (guessing you'll now know the translation is roughly 'mongrel or street dog'. I actually asked my mum this the last time I saw her and she said it might be due to the Philippines having a mixture of Chinese, Japanese, American, Spanish ancestry amongst the general population (so the 'mongrel' bit might be a bit like a way of saying the team represents the nation as a whole). I'm guessing it has a bit of a pride in the name like the Rats of Toobruk carries - maybe it was historically a barb thrown at the players from other nations that they've since adopted and wear as a badge of honour?

I guess it probably also sounds more ferocious and intimidating than the 'Carabaos' (which is a type of Water Buffalo found in the Philippines lol).

That’s alright. Now it’s my turn, pretty much the same reason. Been extremely busy. Now that everything is sorted, it feels a lot smoother now.

Heh, sorry, I think the English Counterpart would like to lay a claim on that. Besides, Joel Griffiths is a real bugger. Yeah I know he’s no longer there, but I still see him as a Jet. So you also hit Greece as well. My one was actually Panachaiki of Patras! It’s funny because not only do I have a soft spot for them, but Vichai just happened to suggest them as a potential club to increase our presence in (I have no idea why they mentioned Greece, then again, some of the clubs they choose can be a bit weird.) Panachaiki were actually surprising easily to get to the Champions League. Getting them to perform was another thing. I think you also found out the same way it looks like, just what a few talented U21s can do, lol.

Very true, but at the end of the day, points is what matters!

The correct term would be a skulk, and more often than not they would look like this the moment someone gets injured: http://data2.whicdn.com/images/14610795/original.jpg (But really, all those benchwarmers seem to get pretty frustrated about not getting a game. Think the most amusing one was Adam Smith complaining about not getting a game and refusing to go out on loan.) Heh, that would be amazing if true. But that’s interesting, because EG is actually more famous for their ‘naturalisation’ then their local talent. Meaning you’re more likely to see ‘Fred’ then you are the name Traore. So just like Qatar, EG has oil money! Although unlike Qatar, there’s a lot more significance placed on the national team, since their league is a semi-pro league. Let’s just hope the EG doesn’t become the next hotspot for footballers at the end of their careers, lol.

Heh, that may be true, but I think he would be itching for goals no matter. That said, it seems that Mickina shares something in common with me. I usually like to sign players from less successful nations and have them in my team. Of course, rarely any of them actually go on to become first teamers, though they have a good record helping other teams. They’ve extremely cheap, and as long as they are linked to an EU nation, easy to get. It does warm my heart a bit when those players eventually do make their debuts for the national team in real life, even better if they become the star players for their nation.

You should if you ever download those extra league files. Lots of fun. Only real downside is that you’re only going to make sure you play in England only. You're also going to hope that you don't spend any longer than a season in the lower divisions, and the only way to do that is to win outright. They actually go into some hardcore detail about individual regional cups, which shows these guys have really done their work. But yeah, the new club challenge is always great. It’s actually quite amusing how well FM handles them. When I did Torquay Towers in 07, I was very confused why the team was not in the FA cup. It turns out there’s a rule saying that only clubs that have existed for at least two years can enter the cup, so that was pretty cool (well, maybe not so cool considering I had to wait two game years to play.) The Dev team do genuinely think of everything if you decide to tinker about with the database(including variable division numbers). There isn’t even kudos in the world to give those blokes. Glad to see you share my opinion on the WCC!

Well, you know, just the fact that they all support Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea… interestingly all the Liverpool fans I know are older than 30. I knew of a hardcore Man City fan, who was actually born in Manchester. He was the one that introduced me to FM (Well, Championship Manager back then), and he gave me the 01/02 game, and told me it was the best version. He wasn’t wrong. He also had a soft spot for Simon Davies and Farnborough Town (I suspect the latter was a small team he managed to glory). What I think was even more amusing was his mate, who actually supported Bournemouth! The guy was an Aussie, has no connection to the club, and yet was pretty hardcore about them. Oh if I can only see them again to see their faces about their current teams’ position.

Their flag is pretty cool. The amusing thing is that it was originally foreign players choosing to represent Albania (and considering Germany’s status in the in previous versions, they chose Albania.) Combined with the high newgen rating, and they were gold. The truth is, there is some credibility suggesting that if Albania had all their Albanian born players, they would be quite good. That said, I can’t imagine their domestic being good anytime soon, lol.

Well, to be fair, he did give them their first and only win (in a friendly against Lichtenstein) . Then again, if you were to give Mazza a statue, then what are you going to do when the Nations League kicks off? Where San Marino actually have a chance of winning matches? Then again, I almost have to wonder what is the lowest ranking nation that has a statue of a football figure?

You're correct about that! Scottish Cup runners up! Allowed them to play in Europe! Lost to Hearts in a penalty shootout. Not bad at all. They were in the 3rd tier at the time as well. Now that I think about it... what a final pairing. Two clubs that got heavily burnt by their massive spending.

Oh, that reminds me. Remember how we were talking about Kiribati, and their footballing record? I present to you the biggest enigma in Oceania Football, Micronesia: http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/...9667-ce8497d22149/language/en-US/Default.aspx http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofc/...94fb-1595c0622f7d/language/en-US/Default.aspx Before you fear the worst, don’t worry, they’re technically U23s, not full internationals.

Well, give that a shot and tell me how the Azkuls go. I suspect you might make it into the top 10 in Asia! That’s the thing, Canadians only care about hockey. Everything else is just fun. If I recall correctly, it’s actually the coaching structure that’s the problem. They have high participation rates, but due to poor coaching, well, the result’s right there. If it wasn’t for the fact that Canada automatically qualifies (because there’s only three teams in the North American Sub-Region, and with the other two being Mexico and the US… yeah), I would say they could struggle to qualify on their own. Wait… Carver spent time with Toronto?! Oh god. Actually, to be fair to Carver, I think the game was sunk long before he got there. When did he get there?

Well, only one way to find out… send them a friendly email! The question must be answered!

Yeah, I knew what the term meant, and I did feel it had something to do with the mix of cultures found in the Philippines. It does seem to be something the team wears with honour, and probably fitting since I suspect football is a minority sport in the Philippines anyway. Hey, Carabos can be a good nickname. Better than Colombia’s (The Coffee Growers (Just take a wild guess what the female team nickname is)) or South Africa’s (Boys Boys), or Honduras (The H. Just The H. Girls love the H, you know?). Mind you, if you were thinking it from a certain point of view, El Salvador’s takes the cake (Basically, the Chosen Ones). I would've said the eagle, but the basketball team has dibs on that. Then again, Azkals just works on every angle I suppose. It's not the most noble, but I suppose it's the most fitting.

 

[Dirty Bird]

Just a quick post, because it is relevant to our interests:

A map and guide to all the fan owned clubs in the English system. Click to enlarge.

what I find interesting in that is it says in the Liverpool section that unlike fcum they view themselves as Liverpool's little brother. Still fans of both.

I found many FCUM fans are fans of both MUFC anf FCUM. Im one of the few that hate MUFC (not as much as THfC and CFC though)

 

[Fryer Tuck]

And in relevant news, the fans of Blackpool are going to put in a £16m bid to takeover the club!

https://bdaily.co.uk/business-in-sp...rs-offer-to-take-over-blackpool-with-16m-bid/

Let us just hope that the Oystons have had their 'fun,' and give the club back to the fans. Interestingly, if this goes ahead, Blackpool will become the highest ranked fan-owned club in the UK.

In fact, so desperate are the fans trust to take the ownership away from the Oystons, they are willing to strip the club of its assets if it means they finally rid of the Oystons (who bought the club for £1).

 

[Gus Poyet]

We have a brilliant owner. Life long fan, not one of those rubbish johnny come lately foreign types.

 

[Jatz]

Yeah and you're doing so well in the Championship.

Nothing wrong with foreign owners as long as they have the club's best interests at heart.