Looking for a space I feel valued

Hi All!



I hope everyone here is well and getting as much time as they can to play the beautiful game on the best manager simulator around!

I have been away from playing FM for some time with personal issues taking a bit more priority for me, and to say I have missed being on a great save would be a bit of an understatement.

I am really looking forward to starting a new save on the next PC version of FM and I am getting everything in place to start that in earnest. Actually, I am kind of already thinking about the next save and I would love some advice on an idea I have.

When I start a save, it is often really exciting to think about how this character will fair and what the achievements will be, and then after a few seasons on a save I can observe how the career is panning out and start to wonder about what other aspects of this character I can explore.

I mean, when the manager profile is being created, I select what kind of playing career they had and it gets me thinking about how I can elaborate on that more and perhaps write a biography of that person, with details about their past playing experience and so on.

You see Football Manager is one hobby that I am looking to revive, but another hobby I want to put some more work into is my writing skills. I would love to know if it would be interesting to some of you here if I wrote a short biography alongside the progress I make on the game.

To add a little more meat to this concept, I aim to add a short Wikipedia style brief on a fictional coach, who will be the "main character' in a save that I aim to start fairly soon once FM26 is released (not to jinx it)!

Any and all feedback would be massively appreciated. If this turns out to be a good idea or not, I don't know and that is why I really would like your opinions on this before I get started.

Incidentally, if this is the wrong place to publish this work, do please let me know where this would be appreciated more!



Thanks in advance!

Here is a short Wikipedia style brief as promised yesterday. Please do let me know what you think. Also, if any of you have any memories of the events I touch on, please do share!

Salvatore ‘Totò’ Venditelli (born 20th February 1986) is an Italian football coach and former professional football player. He is currently the manager of A.J. Auxerre.

Player Profile
As a professional football player, Salvatore Venditelli was often described as a tenacious target man, with a keen eye for goal and having a strong right foot. In his early years, he was often found in the classic number 9 position, the target man, whereas with time, he gradually leaned back into the midfield and played a more creative number 8 role.

He would be seen as something of a ‘promotion specialist’, and has often been part of teams going up or avoiding relegation. Those around Totò describe him as being highly motivating to his peers, whilst being plucky and tough to mark, given his stature for a forward.

Playing Career
Totò made a total of 503 club appearances, scored 219 goals and assisted 107 for the outfits that he had played at.

Salvatore Venditelli started his professional playing career at SSC Napoli. Over a career that spanned 20 years, he spent the majority of that time in Italy and also had stints in Spain and France.
Following in his father's footsteps, Salvatore Venditelli played for junior teams at Sorrento while Enrico Venditelli was in the senior team. Then, Salvatore, known as ‘Totò’, turned out for an SSC Napoli junior squadra at the age of 12. He made his professional debut for the Napolitani in the 2001-02 season, aged just 16 and made a total of 13 appearances in the Italian Serie B between March 2002 and May 2003.

He left his boyhood club after that, joining Palermo on loan before the move turned permanent. He spent a total of 4 seasons with the Sicilian side, plying his trade in Serie A and in Europe.
At the age of 21, Venditelli’s move to Sevilla in the summer of 2007 was seen as a big step up for him and he spent two seasons there. He made his debut in the UEFA Super Cup game against AC Milan.

The lure of returning to Italy was a factor in his January transfer to Genoa side Sampdoria. His spell there was interrupted by injuries that hampered his second season at the Luigi Ferraris Stadium, which coincided with Sampdoria being relegated to Serie B. He did help them gain promotion to the top-tier again the following season, and in his fourth and final campaign with ‘i Blucerchiati’, he guided them to a 14th-place finish wearing the captain’s armband.

With his contract up, he then returned to Palermo in the summer of 2013. His mission there was simple: return the club to Serie A straight after their relegation. This he did, and in great fashion, scoring 23 goals (his highest tally) in the process. He remained there until 2016.

Aged 30, Totò received an offer to sign for Genoa, returned to the city where he had spent four seasons with Sampdoria and signed a one-year contract. In his first season, Genoa avoided relegation, and he signed an extension. His second season was productive but did not yield in a further extension and so he left unattached.

Lorient in France came calling in the summer of 2018 and he moved to the Ligue 2 outfit where he played well and was able to score 10 goals, assisting eight. In the second season against all odds, Lorient got promoted back to Ligue 1.

In the summer of 2020, he advised Lorient that the next season would likely be his last, given that issues with an old injury were rearing their head once more. He was given a pay-per-play option while he took on more coaching duties to start a career in management. Astonishingly, he still managed 29 appearances for the senior squad while also taking on duties to coach youngsters. He came to the fore again as a relegation battle ensued, assisting 2 goals to avoid the drop in the final match of the 2020-21 campaign.