Football Manager(FM for short) is the best football management simulation game out there, with a large database of leagues and players from across the world. Think you can do a better job than Mourinho at Man Utd, prove yourself on FM.

I'll be posting my current career in the game (On the latest installment in the series, FM19) and posting it on here as like a story mode.

It follows the life of Daniel Akin, 40 year old Nigerian manager, whose footballing career was cut short at his prime by an injury, he's back in the football business, but this time as Watford manager.

He's an ex-international player with no coaching badge, who starts the game unemployed before being hired by Watford. Let's see where the yellow brick road takes him as he tries to lead Watford to glory.

Like, Comment, Share, Enjoy.

Prologue

16th April 2003.

This was my chance, it was the Champions League semi-final, I was going to win my first silverware for Chelsea, I was full of confidence and bustling to go, I had assisted Lampard for our first goal the team was full of confidence. This was our year, I received a through pass from William Gallas, One - two with Joe Cole, I had beat the defender, the whole crowd was chanting my name, I was unstoppable down the flanks, left, right, I had beat the next defender, I could see the goal , Hernan Crespo was waving, he wanted the ball, not this time Hernan, this is my moment, I lifted my leg to shoot, BOOM! Silence all-over the stadium, It was dark all around, voices were faint, my vision was blurred.

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP...

I woke up in the medical room, the club doctor shook his head,

"what's wrong doc? I need to get out there!"

I said, trying to get up,

"I'm sorry Daniel, the Match was three days ago, the tackle broke your ankle and gave you a concussion, I'm sorry, but you won't be able to play football anymore "

What?! What was this Doc saying, then I saw my leg hung up in a cast, the tears flowed freely, I was just getting to the peak of my career, I was 26, Chelsea had just signed me for a mega deal of 7million pounds from Vitesse, now that my career had picked up, this?!

"What was the scores, Doc?"

"We lost, 3-1", he said and left. We ended the season trophyless, the next season Roman Abrahamovic bought the club and hired Jose Mourinho as Manager.

I went back to Nigeria, I was a star of course, I started working in the family business (my father's dream anyway, my family was the 6th richest in Nigeria.), I was usually invited by Sport Channels to be a pundit), but my dreams had been crushed, I slipped into alcoholism, womanized, my agent and sister spent a lot to clean my image in the press. 10years later, aged 36, I decided to clean up for my sister, got rehabilitated, continued work as a pundit, 4 years later, now aged 40, I was really the best in Africa at my job, would I consider management? Funny question, I'm just good at analysing teams.

My name is Daniel Akin, this is my story.

Chapter 1

4th December 2018

I had just gone back to my hotel room, Sky Sports had invited me for an all expense paid trip to England London, it was sack season, I had been invited to analyze the last 10teams in the EPL table and their faults, we received so many calls with fans saying they wished I was their manager, even throwing explicits at their club's managers for their cluelessness.

I checked into the London Royale hotel, and as I entered my room, I saw a gift basket on the table, what was this, it had a card with yellow and black stripes on it, I was still admiring it when I received a phone call from the reception.

"Hello sir, a Larry Martin is here to see you "

Larry Martin? Did I know that name? It sure didn't sound familiar.

" Send him up", I said and dropped the call.

Three minutes later, my personal Butler at the hotel was with a man dressed in suit, not those classy businessman suits though, he looked like a chauffeur.

"Sir, I'm Larry Martin, my boss, Gino Pozzo would like to see you in his Limo "

Gino Pozzo, now that name sounded familiar, then it hit me! Italian businessman and owner of Watford FC. what did he want I wondered, I grabbed my suit and we all left the room, downstairs, Larry opened the door of a black shiny Limo, I got in and there was, he had a stout build but this air of confidence around him.

"Gino Pozzo", he said shaking my hand.

"Yes, I know you ".

" I watched your show and I loved it, too bad your career was cut short, you were so promising, How would you like to manage Watford FC... '

"uhmm, what...??", I had been confused, all this was happening so fast.

"uhmm, let me think about it"

"you have a week ", he said and looked out the window and handed his card to me.

Larry opened the door for me and I got out, the car sped off.

Wait, what just happened? I got back to my hotel room and slept, I had a long flight back to Abuja tomorrow.

Chapter 2


Back in Nigeria, I spent most of the next week googling about Watford, they were 20th place in the EPL right now, they had just sacked their last manager, most pundits thought it would be a miracle for them to avoid relegation.

I had spoken to my sister and my agent, they thought it was a fantastic opportunity, but if I failed and got relegated, my pundit image would suffer, as I would be seen as all talk and not being able to do what I complained other managers weren't doing.

14th December 2018, I couldn't sleep that night, I was restless thinking about the job offer, what did I have to lose I thought, not like I needed the money from my pundit career, that night I mailed a simple "Yes" to Gino Pozzo. I woke up to a mail from him, 'Skype interview, 10am today' , I checked the time, 9:47 am!

I washed my face, wore my shirt and suit, combed my hair and was wearing only boxers, I switched on my laptop, and waited, here I was wearing a suit on only boxers, well they would only see my face, 10:05am, the Skype call came through, Gino was at a table with 4 other people, the Watford board, they all kept a straight face while asking me questions, Gino didnt say a word, they wanted me to simply avoid relegation, well seemed fair given how, (pardon my French) , useless they were right now. I said I would be able to achieve that, Gino Pozzo finally spoke.

"Should you be given the job, you'll be given a transfer budget of 25million pounds. Okay? "

" Okay", I said subconsciously, and they cut the call.

Wait! What I've not even had time to appraise the squad and you say 25million? Well they had current Nigerian International, Isaac Success and former Barcelona promising prospect, Deulofeu, they should be something I thought.

I didn't hear a word from Watford and didn't dare call them, so as not to seem desperate.
17th December 2018, I received some letters with the Watford logo on it, I had been offered £30,000 a week to manage Watford FC. I smiled, called my agent and signed, we finalised the paperwork and before I even had a chance to tell my family, news tabloids all over the world had carried it, my sister called me from Paris to wish me Goodluck.

19th December 2018, I was on a plane to Watford city to resume my duty as manager of Watford FC.

Chapter 3

We landed in Hertfordshire Intl Airport, and a car was ready to pick us up, the Watford fans had mixed feelings about my appointment, I was a former international Footballer, with no coaching badge, well at the point, they were right now, anyone that could help them avoid relegation was fine by them.
The chauffeur was Larry again, and we made for Vicarage Road, a 21,000 seater stadium, was quite big. On getting there, I met with Pozo and a few of the backroom staff, but they seemed so short staffed with most of their staff leaving for greener pastures, I would have to a hire General, goalkeeping and fitness coaches, more scouts and Physios, and most importantly, an assistant manager.

I attended the press conference and told them them I knew the gravity of the task ahead of me, but I would put building blocks in place as it It wasn't a day's job and hopefully I laid the foundation for a long lasting career at Watford.

It was time for the tour and I was impressed with their training facilities, their youth facilities were quite good too, and then it was time to meet the players.
We made for the training ground and instantly the air around there wasn't exciting, the players were training without passion, a few of them waved though, well, I guess they were happy a new face was around, I introduced myself and told them I was sure we could avoid relegation, instantly most of the players mood dropped, disappointed a team as theirs had to be involved in the relegation battle at all.

I stepped back and watched them train, the defenders weren't so great, but Janmaat looked like he could really bring something to the fullback position, Kiko Ferminia and Tremoulinas looked decent too.

The goalkeepers were all old, almost my age, hahahaha, but surely, Ben Foster could still bring something to the side, Heurelho Gomes was going to retire at the end of the season, but he and the 19year old Pontus Dalhberg would be solid backup.

Nathaniel Chalobah impressed me the most in the midfielders, well he came from Chelsea so he must have been developed well, he was still young though and could develop into something better, Tom Cleverly, his work rate was impressive and him coming from Man Utd, his work rate and professionalism was infectious. He and Will Hughes could prove very useful. Etienne Capoue and Jorrit Hendrix looked decent as defensive midfielders.

The attackers, Deulofeu looked like a confident boy, he was a good dribbler, hopefully, he could be our own "Little Messi" , Isaac success was a Nigerian International, so I was inclined to give him a spot, he looked decent as an inside forward, but Troy Deeney and Peneranda would beat him to the striking position upfront, Troy wasn't fast but he was confident on the ball, Peneranda looked promising, I could see potential in him, but he'd have to develop mentally, if he had a little more confidence, he'd be the next Luis Suarez, and I was going to mould him into that.

Chapter 4


I had analysed the squad, they had big names but I wasn't impressed, the defenders were poor, the midfield and attack were decent, little wonder they were last, I had three matches coming up, West Ham, Newcastle and Man Utd before the new year, these games were going to be tough given the lack of quality and cohesion in the squad.

I had decided the squad would hobble through those games then in the January window, I would have to bolster the squad.

First on my list, Cutrone, I had observed him during my job as a pundit, very promising lad from Milan, but he had played only 4 games for them this season.

It was popular news that Bayern weren't going to renew Robben's contract and it was expiring at the end of the season, so I made an enquiry for him and they wanted £6million pounds, but Robben was unwilling to join, his reason, "Our squad weren't good enough to match his ambitions".

Well, he was an old man anyway, my main target was Cutrone, offered 18Million for him which was accepted, but even the offer was first team football couldn't tempt him, as he said he was worried about our league position, well, 17games into the season and we were 20th winning only 2matches, drawing 4 and losing 11.

Fortunes had to change, and with the club unlikely to attract players cause of it's current performance, we'd have to change the fortunes on our own, my only option was to develop this squad, I called them into the dressing room and for the next three days before the West Ham match they be learning my philosophy and how to play my style of Football, time was short, but hopefully they were able to grasp it.

My style was a positive one aimed a retaining possession until a chance was open to exploit with the fullbacks involved in play overlapping with the wingers to provide crosses when possible. This was how we were going to play. Time was of the essence with a big match against West Ham on the horizon.

Chapter 5


The squad were doing double rounds each day, a morning session and evening session, with the lack of coaches, the workload was much on me, but we weren't giving up now. The team impressed me with their training performance and my first team squad was starting to shape up, leading the line would be Isaac Success on the right, Deulofeu on the left and the dilemma was choosing between Deeney or Peneranda leading the line, I decided to choose Peneranda for the West Ham game, as he was young and scoring on that game would bolster his confidence.

Match Day:

We drove in the club bus to, the team spirit was low, everyone in the press expected it to be a landslide for Westham. I attended my first prematch interview and told the press I was confident of a good result just to motivate the boys, in the dressing room, I asked the boys to believe in themselves and prove everyone wrong, but there wasn't much reaction from the lads.

Kick off, the first half impressed me, we were dominating, but Peneranda kept throwing chances away, that only worsened his confidence, and at the 60th minute, I substituted him for Troy Deeney, the West Ham boys were getting physical and picked up 4 yellow cards, I kept encouraging the team, a draw was better than a loss atleast and in the 80th minute, Aaron Cresswell fell Deeney in the box,, penalty! uproar from the Watford fans, Troy Deeney confidently ran and picked the ball and placed it on the spot, confidently, he blasted it to the left, the Leeper followed the ball but was unable to reach, celebration! The boys were motivated and we held on to win my first match in charge, 1-0.

The scoreline wasn't convincing as we played them off the park, but we got the win atleast, Pellegrini walked up to me and congratulated me, the boys were motivated, we could actually turn our fortunes around. But we still had Newcastle to play in three days, and then the big test Man United, a win against Newcastle would do a lot for morale ahead of the United game.

Brilliant Stuff...Following. Not sure about how I feel about FM 19. Great features and UI but the 3-D match engine is shitty if you don't have a high-end gaming PC. Had to switch to 2-D classic mode.

teelaw4life:
Brilliant Stuff...Following. Not sure about how I feel about FM 19. Great features and UI but the 3-D match engine is shitty if you don't have a high-end gaming PC. Had to switch to 2-D classic mode.

Thanks man. Appreciate.

But I'm really enjoying it (my best was FM12, but 19 might just dethrone it), the balls curl alot more and some little addons here and there. As for the UI, I guess the new tactics and training is what you don't like, once you get the hang of it, they're great.

True, It's more graphic intensive now, but the Match engine is better than previous FMs if you watch 3D.

I hope you try to update more, don't abandon it like others.

MacZrino:
I hope you try to update more, don't abandon it like others.

Thanks man, will try