From the Job Center to Old Trafford. Chris Woodhouse's Story.

Hey guys,

I am thinking of doing my very first unemployed save. And I want to write a story to accompany that, been reading JamesG and I am inspired.

However I would prefer to do it in blog format, so that the story is more easy to follow rather than reading lots of replies inbetween updates etc.

Just as an opinion... Would anybody read it from a blog? or is it better to do it on here?

No idea what I am getting myself into here.

Chris

yes mate would like to hear the story
good luck

Post it on here, we'll all be able to help you whereas most people don't know how to use blog stuff

Thanks Vida. Louis O. It will just be a simple link to follow, everything will all be on there! I have started it anyway! I may move it over here if people actually like it.

http://fm14story.wordpress.com/

I have done another update today guys

http://fm14story.wordpress.com/

It looks great so far and you should really post the full story on here It'll attract much more interest than a link to your blog.

Or Mush just use the chat to post it if you won't be using this forum

Football Manager 2014 Story

About Me

My name is Chris Woodhouse, I am a 25 year old IT graduate that has been traveling around Australia and New Zealand for the better part of two years. I have played football management games since I was old enough to understand the concept, and every year I embark on some kind of 20 year save file. But recently I haven’t felt the same desire to play FM so I thought I would do two things differently; the first is to start unemployed, the second is to write a story whilst I play. I feel the story may help me when I am suffering a 4-0 defeat at home and the fans are calling for my head. I hope you enjoy the read, feel free to follow me on twitter or simply watch from afar.

My Aim

My aim is to build a reputation as a good football manager and eventually manage Manchester United, I have never started as Manchester United as I would get bored quickly, I have set myself with a professional playing experience (this is due to advice from other friends who have started in the dole queue) so that I can at least start my first role quickly rather than clicking ‘next’ for ten years.

My Plan

I plan on updating this on a semi-regular basis, maybe two or three times a week, including big wins, big losses, league standings, new signings and of course when I move up in the management world.

As I am typing this, my game is loaded and is ready to roll, so I am going to keep clicking next until my first desired opportunity comes along.

And the team I will be managing IS……

Hayes And Yeading!

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/hayes.jpg.html

So, my first interview was as easy as ordering a sandwich from Subway. I was hoping for a League 2 Team but I couldn’t wait around, I'm hungry to get started.

So Life is going to be very hard here, here are the ‘highlights’:

-Poor training and coaching facilities

-No transfers and already over wage budget

-Not one player willing to join me on a free or a loan.

So this will have to be purely a tactics, formation and training mission, which is exactly why I decided to start unemployed, To improve that aspect of my game.

No disrespect to Hayes And Yeading, but hopefully this is a very short stepping stone to something bigger and better. But for now, lets crack on.

My best player is my RB, Anthony Furlonge, Tackling 13, Marking 9..

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/AnthonyFurlonge_OverviewProfile.png.html

And here is my Squad Depth, for some reason Hayes and Yeading are inundated with RB's. Not entirely helpful when my players run out of energy by half time.

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/HayesampYeadingUnited_ReportSquadDepth.png.html

First game, at home to Hendon.
Suit on, sweaty palms, and slightly nervous.

First Team Talk... "Show me what you have got!" Positive reactions all round. The atmosphere seems good.

Ball is on the center circle and the referee blows his whistle, we are off!

First Session Complete

After spending my first session on the job (around 3 hours), I am surprised at how well things are going. I knew it was going to be incredibly hard and that I would have no chance of bringing in any fresh faces (unless they fancy playing for £1 a week?).

With this in mind I did two things, upped team training to intense, and set all pre-match and general training to “teamwork”. Might not have very good players, but then again neither does anybody else. My plan was to create a good squad harmony and hope morale would see me through the fixtures.

Tactics

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/HayesampYeadingUnited_TacticsTeam.png.html

These are the result’s that I was hoping for from this tactic:

- Well organized (due to ‘stick to position’ and teamwork training)

- Stand off the opposition (At this level, no-one can do me any real threat, so if I keep the doors shut, let them make a mistake and make the most of possession when I have it)

- Retain Possession and Short Passing (Lets face it, my DM has a passing rating of 2, and the pitches are horrendous at times, combined with lots and lots of English Rain)

- Clear ball to flanks (My wingers are set to stick to position and be higher up the pitch, so there should always be an outlet)

So far it is working, I can see my little men standing off, pumping the ball out to the wings and them running at the defense and I am scoring quite freely.

Most notably Jake Reid, not great stats, but the boy cannot stop scoring, I'm thinking of taking him to Nando's next week

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/JakeReid_OverviewProfile.png.html

Anyway, the picture below is my progress, my first game was at home to Hendon, that is where I left you last time. A 2-1 victory, only in the cup, but cup wins mean at least a little bit of cash, not that I see any of it, Still bringing pot noodles to work.

After that game I went on to play a few more games, and my tactics seem to be working quite well. Here is my progress so far..

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/HayesampYeadingUnited_FixturesSchedule.png.html

But just before I close my laptop down, There is a job going, could I be moving on already?

Back on it today which should be a much longer session, and with a few job offers lined up, could I be already on the up?

So that is my first three updates, brought over from my blog.

I hope you like it so far, I know it is a little unprofessional etc but it is designed to be a light and easy read

Any comments/suggestions/improvements I would love to hear any of them, good or bad

At this point I am keen to find out of other people that have done this challenge before, when do you apply for jobs, is it wise to apply for anything? Or do you just wait for interest?

Thanks for reading Another update due after todays session, should be a long one though!

Chris

If you are intending for this thread to be your story thread, you might want to change the title from 'Football Manager Story' to something more appealing. Maybe 'The Tale of Chris Woodhouse'?

A good start! keep it up!

I DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO BE IN THE CUP

So after a busy cup schedule including two replays (which completely drained my players) I found myself with 3-4 games in hand on most of the other teams in the league, I could have even jumped to 5th with 4 Straight wins!? It started out well with two victories in the league, a combination of Jake Reid upfront and Soares on the left, lethal, and we were keeping clean sheets. Things we’re going well until…

BYE BYE BEST PLAYERS

After two straight wins, things we’re looking up for Hayes, I was even starting to get slightly attached and started to fear that this may actually turn into some epic journeyman save and no longer be the Unemployed stepping from club to club save it was meant to be. But then disaster struck, as if my squad wasn’t bare enough, I lost 3 of my starting XI, returning to their parent clubs, with no urge to re-sign a loan deal with me. I was gutted, they we’re three of my best players. I went straight to the transfer market to see if anybody fancied joining us.. But they didn’t. So I jumped into my U21 and actually found a few ‘decent’ players, with 5* potential ratings…

CAN WE PLEASE STOP DRAWING!?

I was on a hot streak but it wasn’t to carry on. Three draws in a row made me miss the chance to shoot all the way to 5th in the league, instead sitting in 13th. Nothing really to complain about, just standard matches, no sloppy defending, we we’re scoring, we just couldn’t do any more. It didn’t help losing my three best players, with my whole team now circling around my new main man Adam Evitt.

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/AdamEveritt_OverviewProfile.png.html

The problem is he is my best LB, my best CB and my best DM. Essentially my superman.


DARK DAYS

http://s72.photobucket.com/user/mush182/media/HayesampYeadingUnited_FixturesSchedule-1.png.html

After my run of draws came something much worse, losses. I had only lost one game up until this point, and after 30 minutes of game playing time, I had lost 4, won 1 and drawn 1. My high flying start was over, this was reality, and my players we’re losing morale and faith in me. I didn’t want to tinker with the tactics too much because up until now they we’re genuinely getting me results. My last game of the evening was a 3-1 loss to Maidenhead at home, It was 5am, I could barely keep my eyes open, I was just about to flip the laptop lid down and I had a message come up with only a few visible words, vacancy…. League 2… I need to sleep on this one.

Cool story bro...hope you get to fulfill your dream of managing United