FM: Four young coaches take on Europe

Passacaglia · 07-23-2005, 07:09 PM

I've always thought it would be fun to take an FM game, and follow more than one coach through their careers, see where they meet, etc. I started this a little bit with three coaches, but now I'm going to expand it to four -- that way, I can set up friendly tournaments between the coaches. The coach names are taken from character names I've used from playing on MUDs.

The first is also my FOFC screen name, Passacaglia. A passacaglia is a medieval style of music and dance, so this coach will be Italian. As a result, I'll be including Italy in my leagues.

The second is from another medieval style of music and dance, this time from Spain, named Chaconne. Chaconne will be Spanish, and Spain will be included in my leagues.

The next two coaches will be my reason for including England. There's Athol -- I got this name from the song Athol-Brose by the Cocteau Twins, but I knew nothing about it. A little research from a baby names site revealed the name to be of Scottish origin. The last is Amadaun, which is the name of a Celtic band from my hometown, Grand Rapids. I don't think they're around anymore, but they do good work. Anyway, this coach will be Irish. Since I'm more interested in the larger leagues, I'm not including Scotland and Ireland -- England will be their home turf.

Anyway, I'm still a bit of a noob with FM and soccer in general, so I'd like input from all you guys! My first decision is how far down I should go in each country. In England, I'm thinking Conference National -- I know that I can get jobs in League Two, but including one more league doesn't seem like a big deal. In Spain, I'm not sure -- I save essentially four leagues by not including Division B2, but that might mean that my Spanish coach might have trouble finding jobs. The same goes for Italy -- if I do just Serie B, that's only two leagues, but there's not much opportunity. It's more of a sliding scale here, since Serie C1 has two more leagues, and Serie C2 has three more. I'm a bit concerned with speed, since my puter is slow, but on the other hand, I don't want all the coaches to have to resort to Conference National in England -- they should be able to start at home.

daedalus · 07-25-2005, 05:34 AM

Spiffy concept, Pass.

If your computer will handle all three countries to the lowest, it may be interesting to see all four coaches start at just above the lowest level. Just to see how they progress.

Passacaglia · 07-25-2005, 10:14 AM

Thanks, daedalus! The computer so far seems okay running all three countries to the lowest. We've got England down to Conference North/South, Spain down to Second Division B, and Italy down to Serie C2. So far we're in late September, and no jobs have become available yet (I've ignored the jobs that are available when the game begins). When one job becomes available, I'm going to have everyone apply for it, and let the club decide who gets the job. I'm assuming they'll choose based on nationality, since everything else is the same about these guys, even the birthday (they all have my birthday, Feb. 24 1977).

Peregrine · 07-25-2005, 10:38 AM

Neat idea!

Passacaglia · 08-19-2005, 04:15 PM

Okay, so this idea got crazy pretty quickly -- by December, all the coaches were in England -- one in League One, one in League Two, one in Conference National, one in Conference South. Seemed weird, so I added a new rule: A coach's first job must be in the bottom league of a country. Also, the coach must stay there for one full season before jumping ship, and even then, he can only move up one level. I haven't decided how to deal with moving from one country to another, and I am definitely open to ideas!

Passacaglia · 08-19-2005, 05:18 PM

Okay, so here's what I remember so far. It took until Halloween, but THREE jobs opened up at once. Athol and Amadaun applied for all three right away -- Chaconne and Passacaglia waited to see if something would open up in their home countries. That same days, Sutton United offers Athol the job, and he takes it. Amadaun gets shafted out of the other two jobs, as they all eventually approach Athol. He turns the other two down, and Amadaun can't even re-apply for them! So Chaconne and Passacaglia apply for them, since they're open.

Anyway, Athol's first game at Sutton United goes pretty well -- until our keeper gets hurt in the 75th minute, just after we've used all 3 subs. We manage to hold on until the 95th minute, when our right defender just GIVES the ball to their forward, who is pretty much one-on-one with our "keeper" and he scores easily. We lose, 1-0.

Anyway, in time, another job opens up -- Hayes. Amadaun applies, and gets it. That puts them both in Conference South. Amadaun's second game was against Athol's Sutton United squad, and I had them both compliment each other to make their teams happy.

The next available job came in Italy. Passacaglia was being looked at as the top candidate for the job, so it was a cinch. He's working at Giugliano -- and while those English teams were in the relegation zone, Giugliano is just above it at 16th. The only problem is, my strategy for success in these bottom league is to grab the most highly valued players for loan, but it seems like I can't loan anyone right now. Maybe I have to wait until Jan. 1?

Chaconne finally got a job -- in England also. Nuneaton Burough is 13th in Conference North, so at the moment, they seem to have the best shot at promotion.

It's mid-December, so the English teams have to get all their long-term loans done before the end of the year!

MalcPow · 08-22-2005, 03:19 PM

Very cool concept, I'll be following.

Passacaglia · 08-24-2005, 12:59 PM

NEW YEARS DAY

Well, here we are at New Year's Day, and everyone has jobs, so it's time for an update. From here on out, I'll try to go week-by-week.

Amadaun
Hayes
22nd on 11/26
Currently 21st
Into 3rd Round of FA Trophy

Athol
Sutton United
20th on 10/31
Currently 17th
Knocked out of FA Trophy in 2nd Round

Chaconne
Nuneaton
13th on 12/16
Currently 10th
Into 3rd Round of FA Trophy

Passacaglia
Giugliano
16th on 12/8
Currently 16th
Knocked out of Serie C Cup

Passacaglia · 08-25-2005, 12:30 PM

January 3

Nuneaton loses to Southport, 0-1. They got one in the 5th, and we missed a penalty in the 30th. Nuneaton drops to 12th.

Sutton Utd gets a big win over Cambridge City, 0-2. D/S C Joff Vansittart scores in the 31st, and S C Matthew Hanlan comes off the bench to get one in the 77th. Our M C Graham Tydeman gets injured. Sutton climbs to 15th. The board is pleased.

Hayes goes into Hornchurch and gives up a goal in the 13th minute, but we finally get them back in the 72nd, thanks to S C Clement James. They score in the 73rd and 81st to win 3-1. Hayes holds at 21st.

Passacaglia · 08-26-2005, 03:20 PM

Saturday, January 8

Hayes play a 0-0 draw with Maidenhead. Position still at 21st.

Sutton United beat Havant & Waterlooville 2-1. We get a goal from D/S C Joff Vansittart in the 32nd, and another from AM C Chris Nurse in the 72nd. We give up a goal in the 85th minute, but hold on to win. We move up to 14th!

Nuneaton travels to face Ashton United. S C Gez Murphy gets his 15th goal of the season in the 52nd minute, and AM RL Stuart Whittaker (playing on the left side for the first time with us) adds another in the 68th. We roll, 2-0, and are up to 10th!

Sunday, January 9

Giugliano in their first game after the two-week Christmas break. I'm excited because for the first three games for Passacaglia at Giugliano, his top two goal scorers have been out. We've played a lot of 5-4-1, just hoping for ties. We've had one goal in those three games, managinf three ties (1-1, then 0-0 and 0-0). So I'm hoping that the return of our second best goal scorer, S C Massimo Perna, we can get some goals. Perna comes in at left forward, and we play a 5-3-2. He doesn't get a goal, but we do get one from AM L Bruno De Araujo Fonseca coming off the bench, in the 63rd minute, giving us a 1-0 draw, our first win! We've got to give the 'dedication award' to AM C Nicola Mancino. The game mentioned a few bad hits he took in the 2nd half, but he never ended up with the green cross. As the game ended, his condition was 4. Wow. Anyway, the win bumps us up to 15th -- we're still in the relegation playoff zone, and 13th is our goal to get out of it. That might be accomplished with another win. Our opponent, Vigo Lamezia, drops from 2nd to 3rd. Nice win over a big opponent, even if it was at home.

Tuesday, January 11

Nuneaton is home vs. 20th place Kettering. The bad guys get the jump on us, scoring in the 6th minute, but then they get an own goal, which looked to me like it should have been credited to S C Gez Murphy, but whatever. Speaking of Murphy, he goes out in the 76th minute -- after I've used all three subs. Oops. We're saved, however, by some schlub for Kettering getting two yellow cards in one rant in the 79th minute. The match ends 1-1. We stay at 10th.

Hayes is at 20th place Redbridge. We start out strong, with a goal by David Warner in the 10th minute. Then SW/D C Paul Holsgrove commits a foul in the penalty box right before halfime, and the convert to make it a 1-1 tie. Then Redbridge scores in the last minute of the game, and we lose 2-1. Speaking of Paul Holsgrove, he's a player/coach, and he's all pissy because he got downgraded from 'key player' to 'first team' even though he's practically in danger of losing his starting spot, and his contract isn't protected. He's 35, and the deadline of his contract is not for a year and a half. Anyone know why it's not protected? We stay at 21st.

Sutton United is at 1st place Lewes. D/S C Joff Vansittart scores in the 50th minute, making me very glad I decided to keep him at forward instead of moving him back to defender. We play a 3-1-4-2, with one DMC, and I thought about switching to a 4-1-4-1, one DMC and just one forward. Looks like it paid off, as we win 1-0. Very nice! We move up to 12th, and only three points behind 5th place Weymouth and the promotion playoff zone!

Eaglesfan27 · 08-26-2005, 03:27 PM

Awesome idea. I'm following too

Passacaglia · 08-27-2005, 02:48 PM

Saturday, January 15

Third round of the FA Trophy!

Hayes is on the road at Margate, 7th place in Conference South. They score in the 24th minute, and we never come back.

Sutton United is out of the FA Trophy, but has a big Conference South game against Grays, who has taken over 1st place in Conference South, since Lewes lost -- to us!

Grays scores a goal in the 24th minute, and I didn't see anything about anyone being offsides, but when I looked up at the score later, it was still 0-0. D/S C Joff Vansittart has been my hero lately, and he scores a goal in the 44th minute, in one of the prettiest moves I've ever seen. He's dribbling between two defenders, making his way nicely, but a little too close to the keeper. I'm not sure if the keeper touched it or what, but he suddenly found himself just past the keeper, right at the goal. The game ends 1-0, and we just got 6 points from the top two teams in Conference South! The league table has us at 9th, but a lot of teams missed a league match due to the FA Trophy.

Nuneaton is still alive in the FA Trophy, at Worksop, 1st place in Conference North, And we're without S C Gez Murphy. We held on pretty well in the first half, but they got a goal in the 52nd minute, then my F RC Scott Taylor gets an own goal in the 68th, then they score again in the 83rd. Now that we're in panic mode, My AM/F C Danny Clapham gets two yellow cards in the space of like three minutes, getting sent off in the 88th minute. So much for the FA Trophy for all the coaches. But hey, we're young, and there's plenty of time to get more trophies!

Sunday, January 16

Giugliano is at Nocerina, who is in 8th place. Remember that goal scorer, Massimo Perna, who made his return last game? Yeah, he got hurt during training, so he's out again. We lose, 1-0, and drop to 17th.

Tuesday, January 18

Amadaun gets some smack talked his way. Garry Wilson, manager of Eastbourne Boro, currently 13th place in Conference South, mentions that his team is very confident of beating our side. We don't take that crap, so Amadaun mentions that I'm not Garry Wilson's biggest fan. His Media Handling goes up to 12, but his professionalism goes down to 10. Do those scores really mean anything, anyway? Anyway, not one to leave well enough alone, Amadaun summons his buddies -- they all mention that they're not his biggest fan, either.

Wednesday, January 19

Nuneaton is at 9th place Harrogate Town. They score in the 7th minute, but our F RC Scott Taylor makes up for his own goal last game by scoring in the 47th minute. But in the 92nd minute, they get another goal, and we lose 2-1. We're now in 11th.

And now the big grudge match -- Hayes hosts Eastbourne Boro. A couple close calls for both sides, but the game ends 0-0. Hayes is still at 21st.

08-25-2005, 12:30 PM	#9
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	January 3 Nuneaton loses to Southport, 0-1. They got one in the 5th, and we missed a penalty in the 30th. Nuneaton drops to 12th. Sutton Utd gets a big win over Cambridge City, 0-2. D/S C Joff Vansittart scores in the 31st, and S C Matthew Hanlan comes off the bench to get one in the 77th. Our M C Graham Tydeman gets injured. Sutton climbs to 15th. The board is pleased. Hayes goes into Hornchurch and gives up a goal in the 13th minute, but we finally get them back in the 72nd, thanks to S C Clement James. They score in the 73rd and 81st to win 3-1. Hayes holds at 21st. Last edited by Passacaglia : 08-25-2005 at 12:31 PM.

08-26-2005, 03:27 PM	#11
Eaglesfan27 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: New Jersey	Awesome idea. I'm following too __________________ Retired GM of the eNFL 2007 Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles (19-0 record.) GM of the WOOF 2006 Doggie Bowl Champion Atlantic City Gamblers. GM of the IHOF 2019 and 2022 IHOF Bowl Champion Asheville Axemen.

07-25-2005, 05:34 AM	#2
daedalus Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2000	Spiffy concept, Pass. If your computer will handle all three countries to the lowest, it may be interesting to see all four coaches start at just above the lowest level. Just to see how they progress.

07-25-2005, 10:14 AM	#3
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Thanks, daedalus! The computer so far seems okay running all three countries to the lowest. We've got England down to Conference North/South, Spain down to Second Division B, and Italy down to Serie C2. So far we're in late September, and no jobs have become available yet (I've ignored the jobs that are available when the game begins). When one job becomes available, I'm going to have everyone apply for it, and let the club decide who gets the job. I'm assuming they'll choose based on nationality, since everything else is the same about these guys, even the birthday (they all have my birthday, Feb. 24 1977).

07-25-2005, 10:38 AM	#4
Peregrine Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Cary, NC	Neat idea!

08-19-2005, 04:15 PM	#5
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Okay, so this idea got crazy pretty quickly -- by December, all the coaches were in England -- one in League One, one in League Two, one in Conference National, one in Conference South. Seemed weird, so I added a new rule: A coach's first job must be in the bottom league of a country. Also, the coach must stay there for one full season before jumping ship, and even then, he can only move up one level. I haven't decided how to deal with moving from one country to another, and I am definitely open to ideas!

08-19-2005, 05:18 PM	#6
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Okay, so here's what I remember so far. It took until Halloween, but THREE jobs opened up at once. Athol and Amadaun applied for all three right away -- Chaconne and Passacaglia waited to see if something would open up in their home countries. That same days, Sutton United offers Athol the job, and he takes it. Amadaun gets shafted out of the other two jobs, as they all eventually approach Athol. He turns the other two down, and Amadaun can't even re-apply for them! So Chaconne and Passacaglia apply for them, since they're open. Anyway, Athol's first game at Sutton United goes pretty well -- until our keeper gets hurt in the 75th minute, just after we've used all 3 subs. We manage to hold on until the 95th minute, when our right defender just GIVES the ball to their forward, who is pretty much one-on-one with our "keeper" and he scores easily. We lose, 1-0. Anyway, in time, another job opens up -- Hayes. Amadaun applies, and gets it. That puts them both in Conference South. Amadaun's second game was against Athol's Sutton United squad, and I had them both compliment each other to make their teams happy. The next available job came in Italy. Passacaglia was being looked at as the top candidate for the job, so it was a cinch. He's working at Giugliano -- and while those English teams were in the relegation zone, Giugliano is just above it at 16th. The only problem is, my strategy for success in these bottom league is to grab the most highly valued players for loan, but it seems like I can't loan anyone right now. Maybe I have to wait until Jan. 1? Chaconne finally got a job -- in England also. Nuneaton Burough is 13th in Conference North, so at the moment, they seem to have the best shot at promotion. It's mid-December, so the English teams have to get all their long-term loans done before the end of the year!

08-22-2005, 03:19 PM	#7
MalcPow College Benchwarmer Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Diego	Very cool concept, I'll be following.

08-24-2005, 12:59 PM	#8
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	NEW YEARS DAY Well, here we are at New Year's Day, and everyone has jobs, so it's time for an update. From here on out, I'll try to go week-by-week. Amadaun Hayes 22nd on 11/26 Currently 21st Into 3rd Round of FA Trophy Athol Sutton United 20th on 10/31 Currently 17th Knocked out of FA Trophy in 2nd Round Chaconne Nuneaton 13th on 12/16 Currently 10th Into 3rd Round of FA Trophy Passacaglia Giugliano 16th on 12/8 Currently 16th Knocked out of Serie C Cup

08-26-2005, 03:20 PM	#10
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Saturday, January 8 Hayes play a 0-0 draw with Maidenhead. Position still at 21st. Sutton United beat Havant & Waterlooville 2-1. We get a goal from D/S C Joff Vansittart in the 32nd, and another from AM C Chris Nurse in the 72nd. We give up a goal in the 85th minute, but hold on to win. We move up to 14th! Nuneaton travels to face Ashton United. S C Gez Murphy gets his 15th goal of the season in the 52nd minute, and AM RL Stuart Whittaker (playing on the left side for the first time with us) adds another in the 68th. We roll, 2-0, and are up to 10th! Sunday, January 9 Giugliano in their first game after the two-week Christmas break. I'm excited because for the first three games for Passacaglia at Giugliano, his top two goal scorers have been out. We've played a lot of 5-4-1, just hoping for ties. We've had one goal in those three games, managinf three ties (1-1, then 0-0 and 0-0). So I'm hoping that the return of our second best goal scorer, S C Massimo Perna, we can get some goals. Perna comes in at left forward, and we play a 5-3-2. He doesn't get a goal, but we do get one from AM L Bruno De Araujo Fonseca coming off the bench, in the 63rd minute, giving us a 1-0 draw, our first win! We've got to give the 'dedication award' to AM C Nicola Mancino. The game mentioned a few bad hits he took in the 2nd half, but he never ended up with the green cross. As the game ended, his condition was 4. Wow. Anyway, the win bumps us up to 15th -- we're still in the relegation playoff zone, and 13th is our goal to get out of it. That might be accomplished with another win. Our opponent, Vigo Lamezia, drops from 2nd to 3rd. Nice win over a big opponent, even if it was at home. Tuesday, January 11 Nuneaton is home vs. 20th place Kettering. The bad guys get the jump on us, scoring in the 6th minute, but then they get an own goal, which looked to me like it should have been credited to S C Gez Murphy, but whatever. Speaking of Murphy, he goes out in the 76th minute -- after I've used all three subs. Oops. We're saved, however, by some schlub for Kettering getting two yellow cards in one rant in the 79th minute. The match ends 1-1. We stay at 10th. Hayes is at 20th place Redbridge. We start out strong, with a goal by David Warner in the 10th minute. Then SW/D C Paul Holsgrove commits a foul in the penalty box right before halfime, and the convert to make it a 1-1 tie. Then Redbridge scores in the last minute of the game, and we lose 2-1. Speaking of Paul Holsgrove, he's a player/coach, and he's all pissy because he got downgraded from 'key player' to 'first team' even though he's practically in danger of losing his starting spot, and his contract isn't protected. He's 35, and the deadline of his contract is not for a year and a half. Anyone know why it's not protected? We stay at 21st. Sutton United is at 1st place Lewes. D/S C Joff Vansittart scores in the 50th minute, making me very glad I decided to keep him at forward instead of moving him back to defender. We play a 3-1-4-2, with one DMC, and I thought about switching to a 4-1-4-1, one DMC and just one forward. Looks like it paid off, as we win 1-0. Very nice! We move up to 12th, and only three points behind 5th place Weymouth and the promotion playoff zone!

08-27-2005, 02:48 PM	#12
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Saturday, January 15 Third round of the FA Trophy! Hayes is on the road at Margate, 7th place in Conference South. They score in the 24th minute, and we never come back. Sutton United is out of the FA Trophy, but has a big Conference South game against Grays, who has taken over 1st place in Conference South, since Lewes lost -- to us! Grays scores a goal in the 24th minute, and I didn't see anything about anyone being offsides, but when I looked up at the score later, it was still 0-0. D/S C Joff Vansittart has been my hero lately, and he scores a goal in the 44th minute, in one of the prettiest moves I've ever seen. He's dribbling between two defenders, making his way nicely, but a little too close to the keeper. I'm not sure if the keeper touched it or what, but he suddenly found himself just past the keeper, right at the goal. The game ends 1-0, and we just got 6 points from the top two teams in Conference South! The league table has us at 9th, but a lot of teams missed a league match due to the FA Trophy. Nuneaton is still alive in the FA Trophy, at Worksop, 1st place in Conference North, And we're without S C Gez Murphy. We held on pretty well in the first half, but they got a goal in the 52nd minute, then my F RC Scott Taylor gets an own goal in the 68th, then they score again in the 83rd. Now that we're in panic mode, My AM/F C Danny Clapham gets two yellow cards in the space of like three minutes, getting sent off in the 88th minute. So much for the FA Trophy for all the coaches. But hey, we're young, and there's plenty of time to get more trophies! Sunday, January 16 Giugliano is at Nocerina, who is in 8th place. Remember that goal scorer, Massimo Perna, who made his return last game? Yeah, he got hurt during training, so he's out again. We lose, 1-0, and drop to 17th. Tuesday, January 18 Amadaun gets some smack talked his way. Garry Wilson, manager of Eastbourne Boro, currently 13th place in Conference South, mentions that his team is very confident of beating our side. We don't take that crap, so Amadaun mentions that I'm not Garry Wilson's biggest fan. His Media Handling goes up to 12, but his professionalism goes down to 10. Do those scores really mean anything, anyway? Anyway, not one to leave well enough alone, Amadaun summons his buddies -- they all mention that they're not his biggest fan, either. Wednesday, January 19 Nuneaton is at 9th place Harrogate Town. They score in the 7th minute, but our F RC Scott Taylor makes up for his own goal last game by scoring in the 47th minute. But in the 92nd minute, they get another goal, and we lose 2-1. We're now in 11th. And now the big grudge match -- Hayes hosts Eastbourne Boro. A couple close calls for both sides, but the game ends 0-0. Hayes is still at 21st.

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