retired_rover2clover

Background Details: Running FM with patch 5.0.5, England - Prem to Conf, Germany - Bundesliga, Scotland - Prem to Third Div, Italy - Seria A, Spain - Premiera, Holland - Casino Eredivisie & Gouden Gids Divisie.

So I had it all planned, all roads and junctions spot on, now all I had to do is start my adventure!

My bags were packed and put into the back of the car, I checked that I got my passport and ticket for the ferry and I’m set to go.

I said my good bye’s to some family members who wished me the best of luck.

So my journey to Germany began, i'm returning to my home land

It took just over three hours for me to complete the first part of my journey, nothing exciting to report at all.

To keep boredom away while I was driving along the many motorways of britain I was thinking of all the different football clubs in the towns and cities I was driving past and the rivalries and history of some of them like Wolves & West Brom, Brum and Villa, Norwich and Ipswich, I went past them all!

As the motorway ended and the last few miles of the journey was just a main road into Harwich, I must say I got really excited about leaving the country, it really is happening!

I filled the car up at the harbour and checked in, there didn’t seem to be many people there, their probably took the long journey of catching the train at Dover.

Anyhow, ahead of me was a few boring hours on the ferry, so I decided to get some sleep before my arrival in hoek van Holland.

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So having had a few good hours of sleep, I wake up to the announcement that we would very shortly arrive in Holland.

I got my stuff together and waited around for the last ten minutes for the next announcement which told us that we can go back to the cars.

We’re underway again! I drive off the boat, through passport control and made my way through the hoek van Holland, I was amazed at how many green houses there were! Obviously the first thought that came into my head was, how much weed can they grow!

But anyway, I have another long drive ahead of me which will literally all be motorway.

As I leave hoek van Holland it seems as though this journey is just like any other………….

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As I make my way through Holland, I managed to get through Rotterdam without any problems, I was expecting a lot more traffic but pleased that it was fairly calm.

That’s when I started thinking about football clubs again and my lack of knowledge about the Dutch league.

I passed through Utrecht and immediately tried to think what I know about their football club, which was nothing, I don’t even know one of their players!

Continuing along the Motorway I saw signs for Amsterdam, it was tempting to head that way but I decided to give it a miss and continue my journey to Germany.

As I looked at my map to make sure I was still heading in the right direction I noticed I would be passing through Amersfoort fairly quickly and then head for Apeldoorn, past Deventer and Hengelo and then enter Germany!

I was confident, I put the map away, my foot on the pedal a bit more and headed towards Apeldoorn having just cruised past Amersfoort.

But that it seems, was where it went all a bit wrong!

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Don’t ask me how, but somehow I managed to take a wrong turn!

It wasn’t just a small mistake, it was major! Not only did I go through Zwolle, I ended up in……………

Groningen of all places!!!

I stayed calm, until I looked at the map that was! Don’t even ask, I have no idea how I ended up here.

So I thought, it’s not all that bad, I’m not totally lost, at least I know I am in Groningen, things could be worse……..

Knew I shouldn’t have said that, I managed to pull upto a petrol station to fill up, but as I was leaving, my car decided that it didn’t want to move anymore!

So I pushed it away from the pumps, opened the bonnet to try and see what’s wrong.

That’s were things got even stranger some would say!

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As I was checking my car, this guy came over and asked for help……immediately I thought, its Patrick Kluivert!

Nope, wrong again, he introduces himself as Stefano Seedorf, never heard of him.

Anyway, he asks if he can be any help, managing to just understand him I tell him what’s happened but of course, he ends up being no help.

However, he told me his friend is a mechanic and in no time at all, his friend comes in his recovery truck and picks the car up.

Great! I’m in Groningen, car-less and with Stefano Seedorf who I ain’t got a clue who he is, but, I found that out very soon as we went into a café.

He tells me he’s a football and plays for FC Groningen, immediately remembered then, I know FC Groningen’s biggest fan! The moderaptor!

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The conversation got even more interesting, I find out FC Groningen is looking for a new manager! Things developed really quickly, Stefano had a training session so took me along to the club and low and behold, he introduces me to Jaap van der Linde and Henk Veldmate, the chairman and director of football of FC Groningen.

With Stefano off training, I got talking with both high figures of FC Groningen, after a couple of hours of me telling some cracking stories about my career in Football Manager and how I would manage a real football club presenting my ideas I get a total shock!

I’m offered the job of FC Groningen manager on a one year contract with the guidance of Henk and also Hans Schrijver who is the current assistant manager.

I was on my way to Germany before going the wrong way, but this is an amazing opportunity, the club can’t be that bad either, I mean surely Raptor wouldn’t support a crap dutch club!

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I accepted the position and was really looking forward to it considering I had no clue of managing a real football club.

Having taken the position, I really needed somewhere to stay so I booked myself into a hotel, the best western hotel it’s called.

But really, who the hell are FC Groningen anyway?

Time to find out as I go through all different sites on the net!

Well, FC Groningen was born as GVAV in 1921 and changed its name in 1971. They used to play at a stadium called Oosterpark which had a capacity of 14,000 but are now proud to be playing at a modern stadium called Euroborg which has a capacity of 22500.

The fans of Groningen are called Stadjers and I will hopefully not let them down and become one of the hero’s of the wonderful club and be known along the likes of Theo Verlangen, The Koeman brothers (Ronald and Erwin) and Jan van Dijk who all have had a massive influence on the club.

However, the club have had one great season finishing 3rd behind the giants PSV and Ajax but the club appears to be known more as being near the bottom of the table!

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So having had a good nights sleep and still no info about my car, I thought I’d check out the squad during the training session and see what pre-season friendlies we have, I need to make sure we got enough of them to make the players are ready for the new season, but also not to tire them before the first game.

Our friendly games are against Charleroi, Cambuur, Ulm, ACV, and Beringen, that sounds like nothing too difficult but my aim of course is to make sure we don’t get beat, that would put confidence in the players and hopefully make the fans confident that I’m not a total failure, well not yet!

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The Team

Time to try and analyse what strengths we have in the team and what is possibly needed, for now, I’m only going to concentrate on the first team and leave my new friend and assistant manager Hans to the reserves.


Goalkeepers

Bas Roorda : Dutch, 31 yrs old, started his career with the club, had spells at NEC and Roda. Returned this season and seems like a solid keeper.

Jeroen Lambers : Dutch, 24 yrs old, a young keeper who is certainly looking to displace Roorda, if he keeps going, could certainly get better than his rival.

Defenders

Antoine van der Linden : Dutch, 28yrs old, looks a decent enough left back, he’s even had a spell with Swindon!

Arnold Kruiswijck : Dutch, 19yrs old, seems a regular in the Holland U21 squad as he’s got 10 U21 caps already, has a big future for sure.

Gijs Luirink : Dutch, 21yrs old, is also in the Holland U21 squad and has got 4 U21 caps so far, looks a solid centre back but perhaps lacking a bit of pace.

Kristian Westerveld : Dutch, 20 yrs old, appears to be a rising star showing a lot of determination to improve.

Danny Buijs : Dutch, 22yrs old, not the fastest right back in the world but the rest of his abilities are above average and there’s still room for improvement.

Mathias Floren : Swedish, 28 yrs old, an experienced left back which good ability although not the best in the air. He’s also earned himself 2 caps for his country.

Midfield

Paul Matthijs : Dutch, 27 yrs old, started at the club before a very brief spell with AZ and returned, has good all round ability for a defensive midfielder.

Mile Krstev : Macedonian, 25yrs old, great ability and has just one thing missing from his game, he lacks pace. Has 10 caps and 3 goals for his country.

Mark-Jan Fledderus : Dutch, 21 yrs old, another young player who has good ability but seems to lack pace for a left winger.

Luis Pontes Ribeiro : Brazilian, 21yrs old, a young and eager winger who still has a lot to learn.

Stefano Seedorf : Dutch, 22 yrs old, appears to be a decent central midfielder but a lack or aerial ability. Also earned 6 U21 caps for Holland.

Brian Pinas : Dutch, 25yrs old, great crosser of the ball with superb pace for a left winger but just seems to lack in other key areas.

Chris de Witte : Belgian, 26 yrs old, another left winger with great pace and dribbling ability but not the greatest in the air or in front of goal.

Hugo, Brazilian : 30 yrs old, one of the oldest players in the squad but very enthusiastic and has a brilliant long range shooting capabilities.

Strikers

Martin Drent : Dutch, 34 yrs old, the oldest man in the squad, very much a target man, great heading ability but lacks pace in his older days.

Erik Nevland : Norwegian, 26 yrs old, has superb pace and even had a spell with Man Utd, has decent all round ability and should do well. He’s earned 1 cap so far for his country.

Glenn Salmon : South African, 26 yrs old, another striker with good pace but not the greatest striker infront of goal, but good aerial ability makes him a decent target man. He’s already earned 4 caps for his country.

Jack Tuyp : Dutch, 21 yrs old, looks like a very talented individual, has cracking pace and decent aerial ability. He’s also got 5 U21 caps and scored 2 goals for the Dutch U21’s.

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So the squad is not too bad in my opinion, we have a lot of young players in the team which I think is an absolute added bonus as they will grow together and improve over time.

I therefore went on a personal scouting mission to try and find some more young talent but also see if I can find any experience.

First though, I had to stop off at Jaap’s office to actually find out if we have a transfer budget of any type and what the goals are for the season.

The Office

Just as I’m about to knock on Jaap’s office, he already is one step ahead of me……

Jaap: Come in Steve, take a seat

Me: Thanks Jaap

Jaap: I wanted to discuss a few things with you regarding your position at the club and what our targets are for the season.

Me: Sure, go ahead

Jaap: Well, as you may be aware, FC Groningen is not among the top teams in the Eredivisie but rather at the wrong side of the table and therefore I’m asking you to keep the club out of relegation as it would just be a disaster for the club and the fans.

Me: Sure, I’ll try my best

Jaap: I know it’s not going to be easy, and unfortunately we don’t have the best finances in the league but I can tell you that we’re allowing you £230,000 to spend on transfers, of course, should you feel the need to sell a player, we will also let you keep the majority of the fee to spend on any future players.

Me: Well that sounds like a fair deal to me

Jaap: I know your eager to do some scouting but don’t go too far as later this afternoon we’re going to have to present you to the public.

Me: Ok no problem, I look forward to it.


As I’m about to get out my seat and out the office, Jaap says “catch” as he throws a set of key’s at me, I look at the label which has on it “Office”

Jaap: That’s right, you got an office too, it’s at the end of the corridor.

Me: Thanks Jaap.

As soon as I make myself out of Jaap’s office and into mine, a knock comes at my door!

It’s Stefano Seedorf, he came to congratulate me on getting the job but also advised me that his friend is going to take another couple of days on my car as they’re still waiting for a few parts.