[FM13] Coşkun Avcı - Turkish Delight

1st July 2012: About To Happen

It's been over a year now since the new European Leagues were announced and scheduled to take place for the first time next month. Every league in Europe had a massive send-off, different teams winning each league due to new players coming together. For that one season, there were no rivalries. There were only friendships. It was a great way to end a massive era of football in Europe. Time to see each league in their final seasons...

Barclays Premier League: Chelsea
It was a tense season - with about 7 teams contending for the title come April, but in the end Chelsea took the crown. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City had to settle for 2nd and 3rd place respectively after a final day showdown between the three clubs, with season surprise Fulham completing the top four.

Npower Championship: Brighton & Hove Albion
After the closeness of the Premier League, the Championship couldn't have been any easier. Brighton had sealed the title by late March, but Cardiff City needed a final day battle with Leicester City to seal their 2nd place. In the play-offs, Southampton and Leicester were unfortunately knocked out in the semi finals, and it was Nottingham Forest who achieved success after beating Watford in the final at Wembley.

Npower League 1: Tranmere Rovers
After a shockingly bad start to the season, nobody predicted Tranmere to take the League 1 trophy. On the penultimate match of the season, a tense match between Tranmere and 2nd placed Sheffield United was all that was needed to secure 1st and 2nd place respectively. It was then Charlton Athletic, Notts County, Brentford and Bournemouth who were left to battle in the play-offs, and after Charlton and Bournemouth were knocked out in the semis, Notts County and Brentford were left to battle at Wembley - Brentford taking the victory.

Npower League 2: Oxford United
Oxford led the table all the way through the season, but every now and again faced tough competition from Crawley Town, who ended up in 2nd place. On the final day of the season, Torquay United and Rochdale fought for 3rd place, with the latter sealing the win and Torquay left to face Gillingham, Rotherham United and Burton Albion in the play-offs. Torquay were then eliminated in the semi final alongside Rotherham, leaving Burton and Gillingham to play at Wembley. Burton then sealed the final victory of League 2 there would ever be.

FA Cup: Everton
It wasn't a particularly hard run for Everton in the FA Cup - facing Bristol Rovers, Stevenage, Crawley Town, Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and then Manchester United in the final. There were huge scorelines in these fixtures, such as 5-1 against Bristol Rovers and 6-2 against Crawley Town, but the final against Manchester United was the most thrilling. After a 3-3 draw after extra time, it went down to penalties, when a missed attempt from Wayne Rooney lost the game for United against old club Everton.

Carling Cup: Southampton
In the Carling Cup, Southampton faced many obstacles to get to the final, which is harder than it seems for a Championship club. They faced Oldham Athletic to start off, followed by two tough ties with Premier League clubs Aston Villa and Everton, getting through the latter by a replay. Then they were handed an easier tie in Aldershot Town, which they breezed past, followed by a game against Cardiff City. The semi final was against Arsenal - and somehow Southampton managed to outclass them over the two legs. In the final, they faced a somewhat easier game in Crystal Palace, which they won 3-1.

Liga BBVA: Atlético Madrid
Bundesliga: Borussia Dortmund
Ligue 1: Olympique Lyonnais
Serie A: A.C. Milan
Eredivisie: PSV Eindhoven
Liga zon Sagres: SLB
Superliga: Nordsjaelland
SPL: Celtic
SuperLig: Taramasalata Galatasaray
Europa League: Tottenham Hotspur
Champions League: Bayern Munich

That's a lot of leagues ending - and those are just the main ones! Basically every top league in Europe and the lower leagues in countries like England, Spain and Germany are forming to make this 16 tier league system with 4 different cups to participate in. Turkey are lucky enough to have a representative in the top league (the European Super League) in winners Galatasaray, but some countries like Greece have their first representative in the fourth tier of football in the European leagues - the European Championship League - in Panathinaikos.

I must admit, the idea of this huge league system is genius, and one that I amongst many will enjoy in the long run - and it's a huge step in football for me, personally. I have a dream to be a top football manager. To be mentioned amongst names like Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola. This new league system can definitely help me. I don't care if I start in Euro Division 4, the lowest tier of European football, it's a start and it'll help me fulfill my dream.

I started going through possible options for where I could go about 9 months ago - after I realised that football was my true passion. I looked at club vacancies, but none of them particularly appealed to me. I didn't want to have to go halfway across Europe to manage a small club in Ligue 2 and if I won the trophy to only be in the 8th or 9th tier at best. That's not what I wanted to do to start off my management career. I'm not picky, I just want a team I can go far with - make successful. If I achieved success in the 2011/12 campaign, no matter where I was, it simply wouldn't pay off.

Now at the start of the European League season, many managers have left their clubs due to outrage of how far down their clubs were in the tier system, or they just disagreed with the idea, or they had different ambitions than the board now. A lot of those clubs I could never dream of starting my career with - such as Tottenham Hotspur, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce, Swansea City and Anderlecht - but I've learnt that you must try everything and try not to be afraid of failure. That's why I've applied to be manager at EVERY available club, and although it's almost impossible for me to end up at a club like those I've mentioned, it's worth a try anyway. What's the worst that could possibly happen? I get rejected and I move on.

Looking forward to this mate! Good luck!

My Options

4th July 2012
Well, the time has finally come for me to send in a formal application to the vacant clubs, at the moment I don't care what club I join, as long as I can get a club by Christmas. Any sooner than that is great, I'll be over the moon. Here's the list of clubs with vacancies available now:

Anderlecht

A big club in Belgium, one that I've respected for a long time, but haven't gone very far in the wider football world. They aren't too high up the leagues so it's unrealistic and they aren't too low down the leagues I get bewildered by the amount of new information about the club I receive. They've got experience against other European sides, something which is key to achieving success, and as I've said before, I've respected them for a long time. The only problem is that I may not be seen as the ideal replacement for previous manager Ariel Jacobs, who brought a lot of success to Anderlecht.

Beşiktaş

A club in my home country of Turkey, Beşiktaş are an ideal club for me. Their finances are decent for a club in Turkey, the league is of a high standard, meaning the challenge is great, and the squad Beşiktaş have is good too. After Samet Aybaba left after just 2 weeks at the job, claiming that managing Beşiktaş put too much pressure on him, the club are just looking for someone who doesn't crack under pressure. I don't do that. Once, I had an exam that decided the rest of my life, and I didn't crack under the pressure. How good am I?

Galatasaray

Galatasaray are the club I've supported since 1991, when I was just 4 years old. It would be an absolute dream come true if I were to manage there any time during my management career - but if I got the job now, unlikely as it is, words wouldn't be able to describe how I'd feel. The spot has been open for just a few days as Fatih Terim resigned. I guess he didn't approve of the European Leagues idea. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, but this is not a realistic beginning in my opinion. I'll try anyway, as there's no harm in doing so, but there's only an extremely small chance of my dream coming true at this stage.

Mainz

A popular team who used to play in the Bundesliga, Mainz struggled in their final season in Germany, which is why Thomas Tuchel was sacked as manager after being at the club since 2009. Now they hope to enter a new era starting in European League 4, and I do want to help them achieve that. I know a lot about the club and have been a small fan of them for a few years now. I want to bring success to a club closer to me more than anything - and the sooner this happens the better.

Málaga

Málaga are in a lot of financial trouble - which may be the reason as to why Manuel Pellegrini jumped at the chance to leave, and maybe it was because he disapproved of the whole idea. Or maybe it was just that he was relishing the idea to be at Manchester City - a bigger club in a bigger league. Málaga are in the European Champions League, one league down from the European Super League. They wouldn't be the ideal choice to start off with, and I doubt a club like themselves would be interested in having me in charge.

Osasuna

Osasuna are a club in the European Championship League, the fourth tier of European football. They used to be a mid-table club in Liga BBVA, so this is a positive move for the club, especially when champions Atlético Madrid are just two leagues above them in the European Champions League. For some unknown reason, José Antonio Camacho left Osasuna just a few weeks ago. This has left the club panicking and searching for a new manager to start off the campaign. Osasuna are a great club, they've got some great players and a great history, would they want me in charge?

Slovan Liberec

One of the more lesser known sides that are currently vacant, Slovan Liberec played in the Czech Republican leagues before the formation of the European League system, and were a common candidate for UEFA Champions League football. Now in European League 3, they lost their manager after Jaroslav Šilhavý failed to bring in some new blood to the squad. While they'd be a good starting side, I don't know a lot about them which may prove to be a bad point when I want to bring as much success as possible.

Tottenham Hotspur

The second European Super League team, joining Galatasaray in the favourites to be relegated first time. Tottenham came 2nd in the Barclays Premier League in its final season, and have a squad anyone would envy. To be able to work with this squad would be incredible, they have a lot of money to extend their squad as well. However, like with Galatasaray, it's a very unrealistic target for me, and I very much doubt a club like Tottenham Hotspur would be interested in having someone like me as a manager. Besides, even if they did, the players wouldn't be happy about it. Some of them are angry that Andre Villas Boas left to compete in the Dakar Rally, they wouldn't be happy if an unknown Turkish man took over.

Toulouse

A smaller club in Ligue 1, Toulouse aren't known for success, the only recent achievement in Europe they had was being obliterated by Liverpool in a Champions League play-off back in 2007. However, I'd be more than happy to get this European League 1 side to winning ways and find a streak of success in them. Alain Casanova left Toulouse after a disagreement with the board about the expectations they have. I'm happy to do whatever at a club, I'm comfortable with anything really.

Vitesse

Recently taken over by some rich person, Vitesse are in a smaller league with a huge advantage over every other team - money. The ability to buy pretty much anyone must be a great advantage and something I'd love to do in my time as manager. After their previous manager was sacked following the new takeover, there are pretty much no restrictions as to who the new manager could be.

Werder Bremen

Taking part in the European Champions League, Werder Bremen should be happy with where they are considering where they could've been allocated instead. They've recently fallen down the ranks of Germany, and a brand new manager is exactly what they need. Which is why Thomas Schaff was sacked after over a decade of being their manager. Again, I doubt they'd consider someone like me to be the manager, but it's a job that I'd be more than delighted to have. Their finances are good, there's a fair amount of challenge involved, and they're in a great league.

So, there are many possible options for me to go to if they want me, which admittedly is very unlikely. However, I won't stop trying to find a club and will do anything in my power to be a football manager in the European League system very soon.

A Club Has Been Found

3rd August 2012
After just under a month of waiting, I have finally been offered a job. However, it isn't as easy as I thought - I've been offered 2 jobs. One of them is in a higher division, and the other is in a much lower division, but a club I've respected for years. They're both in the same region of Europe, so I'm torn.

The first club to offer me a job was European League 1 club Toulouse, a club I'd jump at the chance to manage. They're predicted to finish 12th in their division - something I think is very possible, and their finances are said to be secure. As I said, I'd jump at the chance to manage a club like Toulouse, and it'd be a great place to start.

However, I then got a second offer from a club closer to me. European League 4 side Mainz, who struggled in the German Bundesliga in its final season. They're predicted to finish 4th in the league first try, which gives them a good shout for promotion. This is 3 divisions lower than Toulouse, but Mainz are a lot closer to me than the French club.

So, I sent an acceptance email to one club, and a rejection email to the other...

Great start and a very good idea for a story!

Go to Mainz! They're crap!

NVDTahir: Thanks mate
pompeyblue: Thanks, enjoying the save at the moment
Louis O.: Haha, you'll see

My New Club

So, between Toulouse FC and FSV Mainz, I finally made a decision as to what team I start my managerial career with. The team I have chosen is...


To choose my team, I weighed out the good and the bad for both teams - and found that Mainz were eventually the ideal team for me to start off my football management career.

I just noticed that both Everton and Tranmere won something! #WIN

Mainz WOOOOO