[FM10] Soccer? Oh... you mean football.

[JBauerisGod]

Manager
Ben Shoemaker

Birth Date: September 19th, 1978 in Rockton, Illinois
Experience: Sunday League Footballer

• Played at the high school level. Stormed his high school record books.
• Committed to the University of Virginia to play soccer.
• Very injury prone during his time. Due to this his career flamed out after his sophomore year.
• After working for eight years, he decided to pursue his lifelong dream of managing in Europe.
• Moved to Europe in mid-June 2009.

Information
Database: FM 10.3.0 (Large)
Player Count: Approximately 31000
Game Start Date: July 2009 (England)
Leagues Loaded:

• Denmark - Second Division
• England - Blue Square North/South
• France - National
• Germany - Third Division
• Ireland - First Division
• Italy - Serie C2
• Spain - Second Division B
• USA - MLS

*Note: All leagues are playable except for Italy, Spain, and USA, which I set to view only.

Format: I’m going to start unemployed and vacation until I receive a job offer. I haven’t decided what my update schedule is going to be like just yet. I think I may give a few different updates throughout the season, but I definitely won’t be updating it by every game.

Managerial Career

 Year |      Team      | League | Pos | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | G.D. 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
09-10   Worcester City    BSS     1st    33      4       5       103     +64

[JBauerisGod]

Career Update:


With my only other offer coming from an amateur team in Ireland, I decided to sign a one year contract with Worcester for $700/week. Looks like I will be making my managerial debut in England.

Worcester City F.C.
League: Blue Square South
Year Founded: 1902
Reputation: Obscure
Fierce Rivals: Redditch
Rivals: Kidderminster, Hereford, Bromsgrove, Tamworth
Avg. Ticket Price: $16.50
Season Ticket Price: $248
Estimated Value: $350k
Media Prediction: 20th

St. George's Lane
Stadium Capacity: 4004 (1125 seated)
Stadium Condition: Good
Under Soil Heating: No
Roof: No
Corporate Facilities: Basic
Training Facilities: Basic
Youth Facilities: Basic

The team that was left waiting for me when I arrived was definitely a little rough around the edges. Particularly, the defense needed to be overhauled if I wanted to stand any chance of staying up. Off to the transfer market I went.



Benyachou stood out as probably the best capture for our club so far, although he also has the highest wages out of any player on the team. I'm playing him at center mid right now, but I'm gonna slide him around to see where I think he fits best.

[Fappin Raptor]

How long did it take you to get offered a job?

[JBauerisGod]

Preseason Review (Season 1)

We played rather well in all of our friendlies this year, winning five out of seven played. We drew to Glenn Hoddle's Academy and lost 0-2 to Hartlepool at home. The team seems to be gelling well together. Our defense, which was a concern going into the season, played incredibly well, only allowing 4 in 7 games. I'm excited for this season.

Only downfall this preseason was that we lost Mohamed Benyachou for the first few weeks of the season to a groin strain. It's really disappointing considering he was playing really well for us during the friendlies.

[JBauerisGod]

How long did it take you to get offered a job?

Only one day, which is really surprising considering the lack of experience I had.... In past FM's it could take a couple months of vacationing for me to finally get offered a job.

Thanks for checkin in.

[Fappin Raptor]

Only one day, which is really surprising considering the lack of experience I had.... In past FM's it could take a couple months of vacationing for me to finally get offered a job.

Thanks for checkin in.

That's pretty good. I remember doing one that took me nearly a year to get an offer.

[JBauerisGod]

Mid-Season Review (Season 1)

Worcester has taken the Blue Sq. South by storm this season. We are sitting pretty atop the table, 15 points ahead of second place Bromley (albeit we have one game on them). At the beginning of the season, we couldn't be stopped, winning our first 12 BSS matches before we suffered a shocking defeat against Hampton & Richmond. At half time we were down 4-0, and our second half didn't fare much better, only managing to score 1, with the final score being 5-1. What was most surprising is that only one player did all the scoring for Hampton, Ian Hodges. I'm thinking they secretly hired someone from the EPL to play in Hodges' place for one match .

Other than that defeat, we've done pretty well, only dropping points in three other games (two draws and a loss). The loss, of course, had to be to the lowest team in the table, Welling. Before that match, Welling was only sitting with one win for the season.

Worcester has also been surprising in the FA Cup, beating Blue Square Premier side Histon and also beating League 2 side Port Vale, quite handily at that. Our FA Trophy run didn't go so well, though, with us losing to BSS side Braintree in the third qualifying round.

Finances | Injuries

[JBauerisGod]

Season Review (Season 1)

Final Table | Finances

After a 30 year barren spell, Worcester City F.C. were crowned champions of the Blue Square South. Our stay atop the table was never in doubt, as each match the players found a way to pull a win out. We dropped a few matches along the way, with Hampton & Richmond earning a clean sweep of us this season (although their second win against us was not the blowout the first victory was), but no one could stay level with us in the table. Bromley, for a while, was playing very well, and despite my best efforts, the gap between us stayed the same. Towards the end of the season, though, Bromley had a lapse in form and I was able to pull away, wrapping up the title at the end of March. Off to the Blue Square Premier we go!

My FA Cup run ended with a 3-0 defeat at home to English Premier side Sunderland. Sunderland thoroughly dominated the game, and we were lucky to get out of there with only three goals allowed. Still, I was very happy with our run this year in the Cup.

Where We Need to Improve

Our goalie, Colin Cassidy, struggled at times this season, and I'm going to look to bring in a replacement keeper for the upcoming season. The midfield is a little thin as well, as our highest earning midfielder, Mohamed Benyachou, found himself hurt multiple times throughout the season. Substitute middie Michael Wardle played pretty well in Benyachou's place, but I have doubts about his ability at the Premier level.

Other than those specific areas, I will be looking to strengthen the squad overall. Worcester dominated the Blue Square South, be we certainly were not invincible in league play. If we want a chance for a second straight promotion, we will have to make wholesale improvements.

As can be seen above, our finances are in dire straights right now. Although I stayed under the wage budget all season, we were still losing anywhere from 10-20k a month most months. I will definitely take a closer look at wages next season to try and get the team in the black.

Top Performers

Adam Maurer - The centerback played out of his shoes for the second half of the season, without a single performance rating less than seven for the last ten games. His average rating over the season was a 7.58, which was the highest average out of any player in the BSS this season.

Simon Kelly - Teamed up with Maurer and absolutely dominated in the right back position.

David Lee - Our top striker for the season, netting 26 goals in 47 appearances for the club. Out of those 26, 22 were scored in league play, making him the third highest goalscorer in the league.

Alan McDermott - Another centerback that helped Worcester to the second lowest goals allowed in the BSS. Averaged a rating of 7.22 over 37 appearances.

[JBauerisGod]

Around the World (Season 1)

League Champions
English Premier League
Winner: Manchester United
Relegated: Wolves, Fulham, Wigan

Ligue 1 (France)
Winner: Paris Saint-Germain
Relegated: FC Sochaux-Montbe, Montpellier Herault SC, USBCO

Bundesliga (Germany)
Winner: FC Bayern Munchen
Relegated: Mainz, Numberg

Serie A (Italy)
Winner: Inter
Relegated: Bari, Parma, Atalanta

La Liga (Spain)
Winner: Barcelona
Relegated: Deportivo, Espanyol, Xerez

UEFA Champions League
The Champions League was dominated by teams from the La Liga and Serie A this year, with England failing to place a single team in the Quarter Final. In the semi-finals, Real Madrid was pitted against Spanish foes Barcelona, who Real Madrid handily beat 4-1. Elsewhere, Atletico Madrid fell to Inter 2-1.

In the final, Real Madrid proved too much for the Italians, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two goals in the second half to help his team win 3-2.