Where Will The Road Lead?

Ok, so after not being on FMscout for a long period of time and missing out on some great stories (and neglecting my one woops) I have come back and been inspired to try again after reading some great stories since the release of FM14.

So I will be doing an unemployed story with quite a few leagues loaded such as Denmark, Belgium, Brazil, England, Germany, Spain, Wales, Italy, South Africa, and loads more to see where I will end up.

So I wouldn't expect this to be a loyal to one team story and it might not all be successful, maybe a few sackings or I may just walk away from a club if the board and I disagree.

So where will the road lead? Will it lead to success, will I become the greatest manager of all time in world football? Or will it be a rocky road, full of turmoil and struggle, fighting to keep my reputation to a good standard and not become a laughing stock?

I will be using myself as the manager. So I hope you will all enjoy this story, and I would appreciate any help and tips to help with my writing as this will be my second attempt.

First update coming soon

Thanks guys.

Good luck!

Good luck

Where Will The Road Lead?

A story about chasing success by MinusZ3R0

Saturday 13th July 11:15am
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*Click*

The phone went dead. I stood there in the kitchen of my one bed flat, unaware that I had been stirring my cup of tea for the last 5 minutes. The shock of that unexpected phone call left me speechless and unable to move.

There was a faint mumbling sound in my head, and then I felt something weighing down on my shoulders. I suddenly snapped out of my daze, my surroundings coming into focus, the stained tiled walls of my kitchen almost too bright to look at, that mumbling sound getting louder. “Warren! Warren! Are you alright?! Warren!”

It was my girlfriend Katie, holding my shoulders trying to speak to me. “Ye… Yes” I managed shaking my head. I cleared my throat. “Yes, I’m fine, sorry”

“You had me worried, just standing there all zombie like!” She said with minor concern and a slight tone of sarcasm, “And I’ve been waiting for my tea for over ten minutes. Who were you on the phone to?”

“Gert Coulson” I replied, “He’s the Chairmen of FC Djursland, in Denmark. He’s offered me a job managing the team.”

The morning whizzed by. I sat down with that tea and started making arrangements to move as soon as possible. I was sent my contract details soon after and was really happy with the deal. It was a part-time contract on €180 a week, a €875 relegation bonus, and 90% of any compensation for managerial role. Mr Coulson’s assistant also sent me details of my new address around the corner from the Grenaa Stadium where the club plays.

By the time the evening came I had everything arranged and I was flying off first thing Monday morning, with a schedule that gave no time for rest. Meeting the Chairman and staff, a press conference, and finally meeting the team. It was going to be a busy day and I could only hope I wouldn’t be too jet lagged when the time came.

I was going to go first and had agreed with Katie that she would sort out the lease on the flat and she would fly out in a month or two after I had settled a little bit, or came home if I couldn’t adapt, but I was ready for any challenge and chance to prove myself in my first role in football management.

It was time for bed and my head was spinning. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sleep. I had one day left here before my new life began, 24 hours left to say goodbye to friends and family, they’ll be shocked with the short notice but I wasn’t going to turn down this amazing opportunity.

Good luck dude, I love unemployment challenges!

Ah it's great to have a bit of competition to rival my own unemployed challenge. Good luck!

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Sunday 14th July 12:30pm

I was sat on the sofa at my Mum’s house filling her in on yesterday’s events. Going through all the emotions, she was sad, happy for me, excited for the future and then sad again. She was the only family I had close by in London, and it was going to be hard to say goodbye, but my two younger brothers still lived with her so I was sure she would be alright.

“So what is this rubbish team you’re leaving to manage then?” My brother, Brandon piped up in typical piss taking fashion. He was 18 years old, preparing to start at university this year, and full of attitude but I didn’t get too frustrated with him, we’ve all been there.

I filled him in anyway. FC Djursland is a small semi-professional team from Denmark formed in 2009, playing in the Grenaa Stadion, in Denmark’s Danish Second Division West. The stadium is only big enough for 1500 people and there are only 100 seats in the ground. The pitch is relatively good quality and well looked after, but they’re training and youth facilities are very basic. If they were to have any long term plans (the board want to be in the first division within 4 years) they will need to look into upgrading those as soon as possible.

They have two parent clubs in the Danish Superliga in Brondby IF and Randers FC. The agreements include the parent clubs sending youth players on loan to FC Djursland, and Brondby IF also pay FC Djursland an annual fee of €3.38k. Hopefully FC Djursland can utilise these clubs to get in a couple of good players to help with their goals for the season.

Finally, the trophy cabinet. Empty. FC Djursland has not won a single piece of silverware in their short history. I would love to be the first manager to bring home a trophy but of course that is not the priority, as it might take focus away from performing in the league, which is what the board want.

As I was chatting away I received an email from my best friend, I checked it on my phone and it read: ‘Hey bro, I see you are already making a name for yourself. There is a small section on the BBC Sport site about your new job =] See you in the pub”
I clicked on the link he left at the end of the Email and there it was, probably the smallest article in the world but it was the first to have my name in.

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World Football:

In what may seem as a strange appointment by many. Danish Second Division West club FC Djursland have appointed unknown English manager Warren Fairbairn as their new boss.

It is understood that Fairbairn only has a few years of Sunday League football experience under his belt, and having passed his coaching qualifications at the age of 24, will become the youngest Manager in Europe.

Not sure your average football fan, no less the BBC, would be interested in FC Djursland

Yeah, I sometimes forget that my friends and I are not average football fans. I'll edit this later, and I think I have a more plausible idea already

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So after a long early morning flight I landed in Aarhus Airport at 6am. Navigating my way through customs and baggage collection I then headed for the exit when I spotted a man holding my name up on a sign. I approached him and showed him my passport to show I was the man he was looking for and he motioned for me to follow.

I followed him outside to the car park where he led me to a black Toyota Prius, I put my luggage in the back and got in. He told me we had a long 27km drive to the stadium, and that’s all I got as his English wasn’t great. I was thinking then that I would have to learn as much of their language as quick as I could otherwise I would struggle to get by.
After what seemed like forever, we finally arrived at the Grenaa Stadion.

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As I was led round a quick tour of the ground and facilities, I realised how small a club FC Djursland really was, and I hoped my time here, however long, would have a positive impact in moving the club forward.

The offices were upstairs above the gym where the players trained, the building was old and it reminded me of my old Secondary School P.E hall, and the boardroom was no better, I felt like I was 16 again and walking into a geography class.

It was a small room with fluorescent lighting, a row of school tables pushed together to make a rectangle for everyone to sit around. Sitting at the head of the table was Chairman Gert Coulson, who quickly got up to greet me as I entered the room. There were six other people sitting around the table.

The three on the left were introduced first. There was my Assistant Manager Frederick Thogersen, Director of Football Jan Thomsen, and Head of Youth Development Peter Peterson. On the right there was Ib Pedersen, the Goalkeeping Coach and currently the teams only coach, Head Physio Peter Jorgensen and Chief Scout Steffen Hansen. I took my place at the opposite end of the makeshift boardroom table to Gert Coulson and then my first meeting as FC Djursland’s Manager began.

GC: Welcome Warren, I know it has already been a long day for you but we need to get things moving as soon as possible. We are not in a great position at the moment in regards to staff numbers and so we have all come to this meeting to offer what advice we can. We look forward to seeing what you can do for our club.

Me: Thanks Mr Coulson. I would like to take this opportunity to formerly thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity and I hope I don’t let you down.

GC: I’m sure you won’t. Your Assistant Manager Frederick has prepared a team report for you to have a look at when you have time later.

FT: Here it is:
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FT: As a brief summary, we are clearly short of midfielders of quality and severely lack depth in defence. These must be addressed urgently otherwise we won’t have a big enough squad to compete properly throughout the season.

Me: Ok, I will start on that as soon as possible. Is there anything else?

JT: Yes, as Director of Football at the club, I will Email you through a list of potential targets compiled by myself and Steffen. We have set out a Transfer Budget of €3.3k and a Wage Budget of €1,275 a week. Is this acceptable?

Me: I will study the report and yes, I feel the budget is enough to address the team’s lack of depth and also bringing in another coach at least.

GC: Ok that’s all for now, we hope you have a successful time here at our beloved club. I’ve called a press conference, but only one reporter from the European Football Express has made it. Would you like to attend?

Me: Sure, I’d like to answer any questions and also to communicate with the fans about my vision I want to take their club.

I made my way down to the small lobby area near the entrance and sure enough there was just one guy with a notepad waiting around, he really looked like he wished to be somewhere else other than here interviewing an unknown manager taking over a small club no one cares about.

He was barely interested during the interview, he asked the basics, ‘are you happy to be here?’ ‘what type of football will you bring to the club’ ‘why did you chose a Danish club’ and that was about it. Oh well, I thought, I can finally see my new place, and then get to work on getting the team ready for the season ahead.

FC Djursland ???
That’s a VERY original choice of team.
I will definitely follow a Danish LLM story-

Would like to see how this story goes ..