Where will my journey take me??

So my Middlesbrough save fizzled out and made them a mid table premier league team. I wanted something a little different this time and so I retired my save. I’m currently in my second season of a new save and would love to share my story so far.

Welcome to PSV Eindhoven!! My plan was to overtake Ajax as the dominant team in the league. Having looked at the team we have inherited max my first thoughts were the youth were really good. I didn’t expect anything less from a top Dutch team. One concern I did notice was the transfer budget we had was minimal. Is this a task that maybe would take me longer to achieve?? Time will tell I suppose.

Having improved my team in a few key positions (I can share my transfers if anyone is interested) the Johan Cruyff shield was upon us and Ajax was out opponent. We came out of that with a victory winning 2-1. My first taste of success as PSV manager and the I’ll admit that I’m a little excited to see how the season will go.

The next task was the qualify for champions league which the board wasn’t going to hold it against me if I didn’t qualify. Luckily we got the wins needed and made it to the champions league group stages. Our group consists of Real Madrid, Juventus and Sporting Lisbon. Going into the last group stage match against Sporting Lisbon, we were sitting 2nd behind Real Madrid who we did beat at home! Sporting was 3rd and all I needed was a draw to qualify for the next stage and sporting beat us to overtake us and drop us into the Europa League! Although disappointed, I was proud of the teams efforts.

Europa league…will we have success or fail miserably?? Our first knockout stage match was against Rangers who we destroyed. I think we beat them 6-1 in the first game at home. The second leg I decided to rest the main players and try some of our future youth talent and fringe players. The next game we came up against Arsenal were the first leg we lost 2-1 and the second leg they blew us away. Unfortunately that’s our Europa league journey over!

Now if you have continued reading until now, I thank you and this is what you have waited for…was our first season in the Eredivisie a success or did Ajax or any other team triumph to a league win? With a massive smile on my face I can say that we won the league by a clear margin. With only one league defeat all season which came on the last game of the season. The tactics used work wonders (4231) and throughout the season and the stand out players that I can remember was De Jong who go the golden boot, Till who played behind the striker, branthwaite who played centre back and loaned in from Everton and a couple of the young talent were superb!

Oh and we also won the Dutch cup too. So my first season we won the treble and I couldn’t be more happier. The board had said that we exceeded expectations and was ahead of the expectations that we agreed when I took on the job.

So after a great start to my PSV career as manager, what will next season bring. Will we continue to dominate or is a move away from the Dutch league going to better my managerial career…..STAY TUNED AND FIND OUT

It’s the end of the season team meeting and everyone at PSV are on cloud 9. I congratulate the team and staff on a great season and tell them to go and enjoy their holiday’s.

Over the next few weeks I know I need to decide whether or not I want to stay and psv for another season or if I feel my short time is up and see i can bring some sort of success to another club.

The time has come to welcomes the players and staff back from their holidays and I’ve still not made my mind up. Let’s just go with the flow and see if anyone shows interest in me. No transfers made and the it’s getting closer to the start of the season. Just out of curiosity, I find myself looking at the vacant manager job roles and Real Betis is the pick of the bunch. Before you know it Real Betis have invited me for an interview to talk about the lack of experience I have got as a manager but my success that I achieved while at PSV, albeit only a season, is speaking volumes for me. A couple of days after my interview they offer me the job and I accept.

My first thoughts on the team is they have a few quality players in Fekir, Iglesias, Rodriguez and Carvalho although they are ageing. A small transfer budget is provided but should be enough ro help achieve the boards expectations of a top half finish. One thing I did notice which I don’t like is that I have to hit a 725k wage limit of registered players - I can’t help but think this will be a big problem.

Players in - Luca zidane (back up GK) Pablo Maffeo (squad depth in RB position) ederson (starting CM) Ivor Pandur (starting GK. Loanees are Jarrod Branthwaite and Nico.

Players out - carvalho

Now I didn’t want to get rid of carvalho but when Real Madrid came in with a 15m offer I couldn’t refuse as this would help massively with getting better players.

As I start the season, I’m finding it difficult that get a balanced registered team that hits the 725k wage cap I need to meet. However we have registered what I believe is our best squad and start the season. 12 games in and we have 8 wins, 2 draws and 2 loses. Everyone at the club can’t quite believe we are sitting 5th in the league and already having played Real Madrid, Barcelona ( who both beat us) and Athletico Madrid who we managed to get a 1-1 draw.

Injuries are starting to happen and the squad is suffering from this by fielding unfit players. Was I wrong to take the job? I knew the wage limit wouldn’t come back to haunt us as soon as I realised it was a factor in La Liga.

How will this season go. Will it be a successful first season in La Liga or will we regret leaving PSV??