The Career thread

[The Kop Kid]

O.K, so this is a bit of a general 'game chat' type of thread I guess, but things are a little slow at the moment and people always enjoy talking about their current game it seems, so...

HOW IS YOUR CAREER (current game) GOING?

For Example.....

What year are you in, who are you managing and how well are you doing it?

Much silverware in the trophy cabinet or are you battling relegation?

Who are your stars, your longest serving players, your oldest or youngest first team players, who can't you seem to sell, who is difficult to keep and who has been the biggest pain in the arse?

Who are your current rivals and who do you thrash on a regular basis?

What has been your biggest winning streak, your best or worst moment? How are you doing in the hall of fame? Are your board of directors in love with you or out to kill you?

Are you currently using your own tactics or have you downloaded them? Do you rotate your squad every game or as little as possible? Are you using a lone striker system or do you always play two up front? Do you believe both TROD and Rony to be clinically insane?

So, feel free to answer all or none and let's hear how everyone is doing.

Darren.

 

[Shindig]

Righty-o!

The year is 2013 and I've currently done this......

Newcastle United (2001-2005)
It all started so well with a domestic double. The FA Cup and League Cup found their way to Tyneside after two fortunate draws in the final. Coventry and Birmingham, IIRC.

The UEFA Cup ended in the Third Round. A 3rd placed finish in the Premiership was the icing on the cake.

2002/3 kicked off with a Charity Sheild victory over Man Utd. We dropped down to the UEFA Cup after a poor CL campaign. We then found ourselfs against Mallorca for the UEFA Cup. Mostovoi scored the winner in extra time. We end up runners-up. We finish second in the Premiership, too.

2003/4 wasn't a great season as we finish inside the top 4 but we recovered some pride with a 3rd placed finish in 2004/5. After a poor first half of the 2005/6 season, I parted company with the club.

Stars.....
Youssouff Hersi - 14 goals in his first season. Arrived from Ajax on a bosman (2004)

Alan Shearer - Still classed as a player despite the fact he hasn't put on his boots in 6 years. 2002/3 World Player of the Year. 452 career goals.

Shay Given - Solid keeper. Consistent, too.

Matt Heath - Made a move from Leicester for £5.25m. 10 productive years later, he goes to Lazio for £13m.

Flops
Michael Carlos - He took a while to get going but he could perform really well. Cost us £4.1m.

Norway (2003-2010)
7 great years produced a talented Norwegian side that was simply stunning. Eldar Hadzimehmedovic and John Carew fired them in and Svein Tore Brandshaug became an unlikely hero for the Scandanavians.

Great Results
Norway 1-0 Holland === World Cup Brasil 2010, Group F
(Carew 17)

Norway 2-1 Germany === World Cup Qualifier, October 2008

Portugal 2-3 Norway === Euro 2008, Group 2

Norway 6-2 Bulgaria === International Friendly, April 2007

Norway 5-1 Turkey === International Friendly, June 2007

Norway 4-0 Germany === Euro 2008 Qualifier, March 2007

Part two coming later on.

 

[Shindig]

Part 2....

Frickley Athletic 2006/7

Shock! I went back to Grass roots football and joined this Conference newcomer. Luckily, I had found a trump card. Raul Martin was the name and he had a canny strike-rate. He netted 48 times in his debut season, after coming from Motril on a free transfer. Another Spaniard came to join us in the form of Eduardo Villa. The central defender has slowly progressed to become one of the stars of the current side. Hamid Barr also came in from QPR to help the side avoid relegation. Sadly, they blew a chance for promotion on the final game. A 3rd placed finish was still a remarkable feat for such a small club.

Frickley Legends
Raul Martin - 350 career goals aren't a bad tally for an experienced forward.

Eduardo Villa
Not an oustanding defender, but a real team player. 14 career goals for Frickley.

David Watt
The creative influence for the Conference side. 63 career assists.

Southampton (2007-????)
First Divsion side, Southampton were next on my quest. Having screwed up the play-offs, they wanted to see the Premiership at St. Mary's. I delivered and grabbed them a 2nd spot in the First Division.

Our first Premiership return was a difficult one but we scrapped it out for a 16th place. The next season saw us grab 6th spot. This meant European footy! Indeed, a Quarter final with Leeds f****d us up and then they took us out of the FA Cup, weeks later.

Revenge was ours in 2011 when we took our first Premiership title. It was an eventful final day and luckily, Millwall whooped Arsenal which meant we could take the trophy. More success followed as we took the Charity Sheild. The ten years anniversary of the League Cup success with Newcastle was marked with another League Cup success. Then came a day that could've been the greatest day in Southampton's history......

But Celtic whooped us 3-0 for the Champions League. Shame. We secured the Premiership a week later. Slightly more easier than last year.

2012/3 saw another Charity Sheild victory. We broke a CL record for 12 consecutive wins. We won another League Cup and, once more, last minute heroics saved us some pride in the league. We couldn't beat Sunderland to the top but 2nd spot will do nicely.

Legends
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic - I took him from my Norway sqaud and got him from Spurs. 438 games. 111 goals. Worth £8m. Cost me £4m.

Richard Turner
This lad turned up from the youth ranks and quickly found his feet. 184 games, 119 goals. Netted 36 in the last season. Worth £14.25m. An England international, too.

Marc Bircham
A regular who never fails to inspire the team. Getting on in years but still can cut it.

Stern John
Before the days of Hadzi and Turner, he was banging the goals in.

Philippe Mexes
Made the leap from being a sweeper to a central defender, quite well. Was voted one of the best defenders in Europe, last year.

Luca Longhi
European Defender of the Year 2011/2. 'Nuff said.

Turkey (2010-2011)
Crap. Failed to qualify for Euro 2012 but spotted a young star. Oszzy Yilmaz was his name.

Scotland (2011-????)
The current International choice. It's been hit and miss, so far. We should get into the play-offs for World Cup 2014. Should.

Leeds are the most successful side in England. Damn that Hoddle! In contrast, Man Utd finished up in 15th spot. Dave O'Leary got the boot.

Sunderland and Newcastle clash for the Charity Sheild. Woo.

 

[D-12]

*Lets see do i want to read all that ?*
*No, passes on*

 

[rony31]

short and sweet...

played with Milan from 2001-2009, won pretty much nothing, apart from i got into the Uefa Cup one year. star players were Gattuso, Nikiforenko, Shevchenko, Contra, Bouma, Tsigalko and Alvaro Recoba (my fav player in the whole world!)

wanted a new challenge(well fresh start really), moved on to Barnsley, newly promoted to the 2nd Division... currently sitting 1st above Portsmouth by 10+ points with 6 or 8 games to go, cant remember. star players are AM Tommy Black, striker Anthony Shandran (cost me only 75K ), midfielder Barrowclough (although he's going to Man City in the summer ) and my goalie from Everton Mark Tyler

 

[run4783]

I have two games: Lincoln City and Anderlecht.

Lincoln City: two years into the game, have won the 3rd Division and 2nd Division so I'm on my way up to the 1st Division.

Stars so far: Chris McConville, Peter Gain, Paul Mayo, Brad Friedel, and Godwin Okpara. The strike force changes so much because of sales of players, etc. Should be a long season in 1st division

My Anderlecht game is further along (07/08). I've won the league every year, the Belgian Cup the last five (just lost this season in the Quarter Finals, the Super Cup every year, and one UEFA Cup and Euro Super Cup. I'm still in search of my first Champion's League title however.

My stars have been throughout:
Tim Howard 278 App 210 Conceded
Walter Baseggio 8.07 Rating for 231 Total Appearances
Julius Aghahowa 106 Goals, 72 Assists, 47 MOMs in 260 App.
Yasin Karaca 115 Goals in 245 App.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic 100 Goals in 185 App.
Alan Smith in 2 years has 55 Goals in 75 App. and doesn't get a callup to the English Nat'l Team

The legend of my team: DML Nico van Kerckhoven should be retiring at the end of the year but has 84 Assists in 238 Appearances. He carried my team to CL semi finals in my second season.

Manager Stats:
364 Played: 278 Won, 35 Drawn, 51 Lost.
Goals: 921 Conceded: 322

 

[Shindig]

Southampton 2013/14

Domestic quadruple! Charity Sheild, FA Cup, League Cup and Premiership all rolled into one. It would've been nice to top it off with a European trophy, but we lost in the Semi finals of the CL to Celta. We done well to come back from 4-1 down on aggregate but we were knackered by the time the penalties came up.

Currently the best manager in England

Stars
Paul Keegan and Rich Turner are still scoring crucial goals and Joe Cole is netting late winners. As for the other Coles.....

Damien Cole Just had his debut against Bristol City. The 18 year-old didn't score but he looks like a future superstrar.

Kevin Cole Had a decent first season for the club. The 22 year-old could be something special, if he keeps this up.

Good buys
Alan Navarro - Came from Gillingham with a really poor rating. Now he has 50 appearances behind his back and is a huge part of our defensive backbone.

Pedro Mendes - Has had a great start to his Southampton career. Snapped up from Liverpool for £4.7m

Michael Carlos - He's finally found his form after being a flop at Newcastle (I bought him) and Chelsea (Not his fault the team was crap)

Christian Chivu - Despite being sent off in the crucial Semi final, he still proves himself to be a solid defender. 40 appearances and 3 goals.

Jose Pedro Jobim - Bought as a replacement for Adrian Gray, this Brazilian keeper is now a Brazilian international and a really solid keeper. Bought for a snip at £975k.

Goodbyes
Eldar Hadzimehmedovic - Had to be sold as he was annoying his fellow team-mates. Well, his agent was. Sold for £8m

Marc Bircham - With all the young blood in the side, I can't see him staying much longer. Christ! He's 36!!!

Gary Flynn - His career was over before it began. Unfit, unpopular and un-talented. Has personal problems. Northern Irish U21.

Stuart Hargreaves - Pushed out of the side due to Jobim and Cunningham being on top form. Might leave.

Celtic's my tip for the CL, this season.

FRICKLEY ARE IN THE 3RD DIVISION! Raul Martin is making his big move to Sheff Wed. He will be missed.

 

[Tom]

could do with more people like you on the forums Shindig.

Nooooooooo Marc Bircham!!!!! lol

now then, wheres Rony's post..

TROD.

 

[JTNY]

Good ol 01/02....... Great story. Great read. at 11:48 pm at night, on the holidays, it passes as entertainment.

 

[Shindig]

7 seasons with the same club is a record for me. Quite chuffed I've turned Southampton into a footballing powerhouse.

Ooooh, apparently the media are misqouting Jobim. Hans Peters is going. Never really liked that Dutchman. Damien Cole should replace him easily.

Celta won the CL. Bit shocking.

Man, what have I got to do to get St. Mary's expanded!?

 

[rony31]

Originally posted by TROD
could do with more people like you on the forums Shindig.

Nooooooooo Marc Bircham!!!!! lol

now then, wheres Rony's post..

TROD.

OY! not funny

 

[Tom]

What? What did i do?

TROD.

 

[Shindig]

Marc Bircham played 105 minutes in the 2015 CL final! We won 2-1 on penalties. Oh, and I bought another Cole. Say hi to Jonathan Cole

Preston (Division 2) knocked us out at the FA Cup semis. Glenn Hoddle got the sack

He's now at Spurs. Accident waiting to happen, that is.

 

[The Kop Kid]

First off I just have to say fantastic posts to Shindig. I enjoyed reading about all of your exploits with the saints, Newcastle and that powerhouse of English football, Frickley. Most entertaining indeed. I'm not going to try to match that. O.K, here goes. I am Managing Liverpool. The year is 2019 (2019/2020 season).

Honours:

Premiership : 2004 , 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018.

Champions League: 2011, 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019.

F.A Cup: 2004, 2011, 2016

League Cup: 2003, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019.

Uefa Cup: 2006

World Club Championships: 2007, 2013, 2017, 2019

Intercontinental Cup: 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018


Biggest winning streak: 18 games. Went over a season undefeated, then lost four in a row. Go figure.


Greatest Player: Maxim Tsigalko (2007 to 2018) Scored over 500 goals for the club and his lowest seasons rating was 8.24. In his final season he hit 29 goals in 31 games at the age of 36. Also got between 11 and 27 MoM awards each season. A true Liverpool legend.

Most games: David Mendes da Silva. He's retired so I don't have his exact stats but he played practically every game for around 15 years.

Underperformers: Eldar (Hadzi) Moukoko and Kallstrom. Bought all three as I had heard great things about them from some people in the forums but none of them really did well for me. Kallstrom in particular was utter crap. Van der Vaart also goes on the list because although he performed reasonably well, considering how much he cost and the chase to get him, he was a bit of a let down.

Biggest pain in the arse: Without doubt Tonton Zola Moukoko. Bitched about training, team mates, his contract and my assistant manager. I sold him to Rangers as the other players celebrated. Anelka came in second.

Best moment: Winning the title on goal difference on the final day to deprive Man United OR coming back from behind in the Champions League final to beat...Man United. :funny:

Worst moment: Losing to Bristol city in the F. A Cup final after giving away a 3-0 lead.

Biggest Rivals: Earlier Leeds, but now undoubtedly Man United. I have to go through them to get to the silverware now on most occasions.

Easybeats: Nottingham Forrest, now in the Premiership. Like shooting fish in a barrel. 5-0, 4-0, 5-1 , 6-0, etc. etc.

Youngest First Team Player: Kevin Charlton (DMC- English -Regen). 17. Arrived in the English U21s shortly after Steven Gerrard retired. Fingers Crossed.

Oldest First Team Player: Gallardo at 37 before he retired.

Hall of Fame: I currently have the top three spots on the January to December list but still have to knock Ramsey from the Nations/England top spot. Should have him by the end of the year if I get the title back from Man Utd.

Tactics: My own (1 striker) , with squad rotation to some degree most games.

 

[Ebonix]

Liverpool 01/02

I recently started a game as Liverpool to see if I could return the club too former glories. When I first came into the club I started making changes from day one! Such inconsistant and unreliable players as Jerzy Dudek, Emile Heskey & Nick Barmby were put on the Transfer list in the first day. While Dudek is still wallowing in my squad, I got on with the rest of the season. I made a number of signings mainly young players who would come to triumph once players like Folwer and Owen were either injured or sold on. That was an early problem I faced, playing only one striker spot and with Folwer and Owen's infamous ability too become injured. I had sold Heskey too Celtic for £7m I also receieved £7m off Celtic for Nick Barmby (Good business for me I thought). The season started off well. I didn't conced a goal for almost 20 games and I didn't lose a game untill around this time. I was relishing a spot at the top of the table. Cup ventures were also going well, I was being drawn against some fairly easy opponents in the FA Cup coming up against Blackpool and Preston before the Final. The League Cup was a different story I was being drawn against Chelsea and I had too dispatch of Newcastle in a heated semi-final. In the Champions league I had just qualified from my 2nd Group Phase. (A group with Ajax, Leverkusen & Parma). I have just been drawn against PSV in the quarter final and held them to a 2-2 draw in their stadium. I won the League cup final in a thrilling 3-2 win over Chelsea thanks to Owen who scored two late goals. The season is yet to continue, I am a couple of points off the pace of Man United who sit pretty at the top of the table but I also enjoy a 10 point gap from 3rd.

Signings

- Glen Crowe - Young Irish forward who I signed from Bohiemians for a snip at 250k after a reccomendation from a friend, great goal getter but unfortunetly has more goals disallowed than he scores.

- Andri Sigporssen - Young Iclandic Striker who was unhappy at his club, snapped him up for 500k and hes scored 4 goals in 2 starting apperances and 4 sub apperances.

- Simon Legg - Promising 19 year old keeper from Non-League, 199 potential

- Micheal Parby - 21 year old Danish striker who looks too have a bright future, once again a high potential.

- Anders D'Alessandro - Surely everyone knows him, been a squad rotated player but has played his part in the season plan. Unfortunatly I shelled out £5m for him (A bit too much I think)

- Eldar Hadzimehmodovic - Yep, I've gone for him again. Hoping to slowly lower him into the first team around early next season.

Others too come

 

[The Kop Kid]

Originally posted by Ebonix
Liverpool 01/02

)

- Eldar Hadzimehmodovic - Yep, I've gone for him again. Hoping to slowly lower him into the first team around early next season.

What is it with people and Eldar. Am I the only one who gets little out of him? What position do you play him in?

 

[Shindig]

He done the job for me. Before he f**ked things up by telling the tabloids of his big offer from Arsenal. He does go through some dull patches, mind.

 

[Ebonix]

Last time I had him he was superb for me, he was basically the greatest player I had. He was also very loyal.

This is him on my old Leicester game (I dug this up from the screen shot showoff) I played him behind the front two. Towards the end of the game he was worth over £20m

 

[The Kop Kid]

WHAT HAVE I DONE! I finally got a little tired of my liverpool game mid 2021 so decided to start a new game, choosing conference giants Dover. A massive 19 man squad, no money and well, just look at how fit the lads are. This was after one (yes, that's right, one) pre-season friendly. This is going to be a challenge!

 

[Ebonix]

My Mate was asked to play for Dover. He turned them down, now he spends his time down the pub