You don’t need me to tell you that it is finally here! The pre-beta of Football Manager 2015 has been released and just like you all out there, I am very excited about what lies in store for us all. It promises to be a journey (you will notice I use that word a lot) of ups and downs, a rollercoaster if you like, tough decisions will be made and our social lives will cease to exist. I am quite happy for that to occur, so lets’ get started!


I have played Football Manager for a very long time, since 2008 but prior to this I was a fan of the Championship Manager games with my personal favourite being Championship Manager 03/04. At this point in my life I wasn’t too bothered about a particular team when playing football games which led to my biggest achievement being guiding Manchester United (sorry, that swearing will stop here) to total football domination. It was quite the accomplishment with Giovane Élber becoming one heck of a player. As the years went on, I made the seamless transition to the Football Manager series and I have never looked back. Within my time playing this game I have achieved numerous targets, ranging from guiding Newcastle United to the Premier League title, to most recently making the managerial step up from Grimsby Town to FC Bayern München; I think that last one might be tough to beat.


Over time I have grown tired of playing Football Manager as it all came a bit too easy for me. That isn’t me being big-headed but it can become tedious if you guide a team to the point where you win every game, long unbeaten runs, and endless trophies. Yes that is the whole point of being in football management, but I prefer a bit of added challenge to my journeys (there’s that word again). As mentioned before, I feel that my biggest accomplishment was being accepted to take on FC Bayern München on Football Manager 14 and guide them to the Champions League and Bundesliga trophies in my first season. This unfortunately brought to the forefront the issues I have with the game once you hit an endless winning streak and this brought an end to my first unemployment challenge. I had achieved everything I had wanted to in the game so I have not played the game until recently where I led Spurs to the Premier League title and Europa League in my first season.

This brings me to the present day. I have paid for my copy of Football Manager 15 and I have already looked to start up my next, let’s use the word voyage, that I will be sharing with you all. Unemployment Challenge (V2), here we go!

Game Setup

I have loaded the following nations and leagues:

England – all leagues

France – Ligue 1 only

Germany – Bundesliga only

Italy – Serie A only

Scotland – Scottish Premiership only

Spain– LIGA BBVA only

I have also set up my profile on the save which I feel is fitting of the challenge I have set myself:


The story will be written in the first person as third person has never been my forte. It will also be presented in monthly updates as to keep you abreast of everything that is going on. If there are any major transfer dealings, which I doubt will occur for a while, I will share them with you through individual updates. Any other big events that occur will be given their own update to emphasise their importance.

wierd set up of leagues but good lick

good luck i will ofcourse be following

Good luck James! And the mention of Élber makes it better

Good luck James! Your attributes, though, they look dreadful!

Good luck James, your stories are always great! This'll be a good'n

Good luck . Will be following.

Good Luck James! I enjoy unemployment challenges so I'l be looking out for this!

Been looking forward to this, good luck!

Good luck, should be an exciting journey!

Ipswich Knights: I don’t really remember using any other league setup. Works for me. I will take that as meaning good luck, not good lick

No1VillaFan:Why thank you.

Louis O:Glad you found my story Louis! Élber was incredible, total goal machine.

Walter:I don’t think my attributes could get any worse? Thanks.

AaronHJFT96:I hope you enjoy this one like the others.

Hashim: Thanks.

Zap:I loved my last one so will be looking to do just as well with this one.

Justice:Good to know. I hope you enjoy.

pompeyblue:I hope so....but lets not use the word journey anymore

If you have read my first update and not quickly skipped the poor humour that I included, you will have seen that my abilities as a manger in-game are dire but realistic. There isn’t a chance that I could walk into a club and manage their players at any level, not even Sunday league football and this is emphasised in my choice of ratings. Due to the poor ability ratings it does mean that I could potentially go a very long time without a job as my name will be well and truly at the bottom of the pile. I have to say it is one of the most annoying parts of this challenge but it is an exciting moment when you receive your first job offer and have to decide whether it is right for you. Of course it is right for you, it is a job, but you will always have higher aspirations and I am no different. You sit there, with the game simulating while you are on holiday indefinitely waiting for something to come your way. It is a very boring process to go through but it is a necessary step to take. Patience is key...

The last time I did this challenge, I felt certain clubs playing in the lowest English leagues were below me and that the likes of FC Barcelona and Real Madrid would come knocking for a Sunday league football with no management experience. As you can guess, this never happened but I continued to reject job offers or did badly in interviews on purpose. However, this time around I didn’t think I had room to be picky and due to my eagerness to get playing the game I decided to try and get the first job I was offered. While on holiday I applied for jobs at Port Vale, Hartlepool, Fulham and Leyton Orient. My job applications were obviously thrown in the bin as I wasn’t offered an interview for a single one. It wasn’t too disheartening but instead expected.

Eventually I was invited to interview for the job at Nuneaton Town who sat rock bottom of the Vanarama Conference with a tough season ahead. I attended the interview and said everything that the board would have wanted to hear. I told them how I wanted to be at the club for years to come and was determined to help them gain success. I honestly felt they believed me when I said I could get them from the bottom of the league to a top half finish. Ambitious, maybe a bit too ambitious by the board and eventually I ended the interview on a good note by not making any requests for changes to be made to the club. I waited to hear something. In the end the board decided I wasn’t the right man and informed me that I was unsuccessful in interview. It was a shame as it would have been my first job but I still remained confident that another would come along.

Despite the disappointment of not getting my first job, one job offer did come that I just had to get...

Ooo, I wonder what club it is?!
Looking forward to when this 'voyage' properly gets underway

Cannot wait to see who! Will we find out tomorrow?

pompeyblue:Ah time will tell, well, actually the next update will tell you. The voyage should be an interesting one

AaronHJFT96:You will find out today....maybe