Hello everyone and welcome back to a brand new update from my Sydney FC Football Manager Story. My first season in charge saw the team rise from being rank outsiders to win the A-League Grand Final over Adelaide. Trouble was on the horizon though as our financial situation was precarious.
May 2016
Immediately following the end of the season the board issued a transfer embargo as takeover talks began to surface…
The takeover was completed by mid-May and the new Chairman decided to keep me on in the manager’s role. However that came at a price. Although most of the nearly $4million debt had been taken care of there was no money available for a transfer budget.
Unlike what I had been use to in the MLS with draft picks there’s no such thing in Australia so I had to move quickly in order to strengthen the squad. Before that could happen I decided to have a bit of a clear out of players.
Reviewing their stats through my “moneyball” system there were many players that didn’t seem to have much to offer going forward and as their contracts were almost up then releasing them was a no brainer.
As for the new arrivals well things didn’t go quite as expected simply because I forgot about the maximum of 5 internationals on the team – being used to 9 in the MLS, so consequently I ended up with players that are of no use to me.
Moneyball:
Only one “Moneyball” player to highlight and that would be defender David McEntegart who was let go by Brisbane. As you can see his tackling stats are above my current players and 4.52 for headers won per game are not that bad either. A good addition I feel as he can play anywhere along the back four.
Joining McEntegart in defence is a young Vietnamese left back Do Quoc Cuong who I figure will be the immediate starter in that role.
At the other end of the field I bolstered the front line with two strikers. Hans Quinteros from Chilean side Rangers and “Marquee” player Park Chu-Young, a South Korean international who still has a lot left in him especially for this league and will spearhead the front line this season.
So with no money to do anything with that was basically it for the off season which was done and done very early on an thus led to a very long a drawn out winter, June to August which thankfully being in Australia is not all that bad compared to Canadian winters!
As there was not much going on in the front office I was happy therefore to see pre-season fixtures come around and all went exceedingly well admittedly against much weaker opposition though it’s nice to see plenty of goals.
As with last season Sydney will take the field in a variation of my Vancouver 4-5-1 tactic – “Vancouver Slant Left” which looks sort of dis-jointed but in fact seems to cover all areas quite well. A good hard working DMC is critical for closing some obvious gaps and up front I’ve turned my lone striker into a Trequartista role which in pre-season appeared to work quite effectively pulling defenders away to create chances for others.
Here’s a look at the squad broken up into Defensive and Offensive groups though probably the names are meaningless for most readers.
As we embark on the new season we’ve lost over another $2,000,000.00 since having the debt wiped clean. Money is literally draining out of our bank account and I have no idea why?
We opened the season with a good crowd of over 10,000 who were treated to a stunning hat-trick by our new forward Park-Chu-Young who lived up to all the pre-game hype as we cruised to a 4-0 victory over last season’s second place team in the table.
Okay folks; that’s where I’m leaving the story for now so thanks for reading and I look forward to your comments.
Ben
5 июля, 2012 at 01:10
Great victory on opening day. Good signings but am surprised Park Chu Young would join you. Also hope you find away a way of sorting out those finances :)
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:08
Hi Ben
I was surprisd that Chu Young signed also as he’s probably way too good for this league but a handy addition for Champions League action.
CsAtlantis
5 июля, 2012 at 02:27
Only half your expenditure is from wage costs, wonder what the other half is spent on!
Nice to see Park Chu-Young in the team, you’re paying him a pretty decent wage and he is not even that old yet, still has a few good years left in him, should be a great tutor too
Good opening win Kevin and good luck for the rest of the season
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:10
Hi CsAltantis
No idea where the money is going but maybe it’s costs I can’t control but hopefully can figure out as the season goes on.I hope to get a good three seasons out on of Chu-Young — maybe more?
B1LLYTK
25 апреля, 2013 at 08:22
Stadium Rental?
SFC hire the SFS from the cricket ground trust. Maybe look into that. I can’t remember if there is an option to request move to smaller stadium in the game or just a larger one. But playing in a 45000 seater and only getting 20000 at most is ridiculous
David Wiggins
5 июля, 2012 at 04:45
Looking good Kevin! I am assuming Park Chu-Young is the Arsenal striker in real life?
I would love to see you do a post solely on the moneyball method and how you interpret it
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:26
Hi Dave
Thanks fro your comment and yes that is Chu-young from Arsenal, though I didn’t realize that when signing him :)
I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to do a Moneyball post or if it’s a foolproof method but below is a link to where I first descibed it in my Vancouver story. Hope that helps. Let me know if not.
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2012/03/vancouver-whitecaps-season-3-pre-season-report/
Lye
5 июля, 2012 at 05:17
Pak Chu Yong is a brilliant signing, i bet he will score loads of goals for you in Australia. You are all set to go and i am looking forward to a great season ahead with your «Slant Left» formation. Good luck.
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:12
Thanks Lye!!
Chu-young will hopefully lead the scoring table at the end of the season though I wasn’t expecting a hat-trick on his debut!
Johnny Karp
5 июля, 2012 at 08:05
Congratulations on signing Park Chu-Young, that is one hell of a player for the Australian league. As for the money, maybe things will get better when you will start playing the Champions League matches. Good luck!
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:13
Hi Johnny
I was delighted to get a player of such calibre whichcan only be good for the overall success of the team. He should be very handy for Champions League play.
vaibhavc
5 июля, 2012 at 08:36
Great pre-season. Park Chu Yong looks great, is he the same Arsenal guy? And what a debut he had!
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 09:14
Hey vaibhavc
Yep, that’s Chu-Young from Arsenal and it was a brilliant debut — never expected that!!
Syemo
5 июля, 2012 at 09:33
I’ve just caught up with reading your story from Vancouver to Sydney, loving every minute of it. Keep up the good work, I like how you play the game it’s similar to how i play it, by not always going on the scout reports and taking stats into account, but you do that in far more detail. I can’t wait to see how you get on in Australia. I loved my time managing there, one of the best leagues i have played to date. The rules of the squad makes it interesting. Good start to the season, love to see how you get on in the Asian Champions League
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 12:30
Hello Syemo
Thanks very much for leaving a comment and I’m delighted that you have enjoyed the story so far and I appreciate you reading it all. It’s good to hear from a fellow «manager» who has played in the Aussie league and I know what you mean about the squad rules :) Glad to know also there is someone who plays similar to my style.
Darren Smith
5 июля, 2012 at 10:19
Good signings and a good start to the season despite some off the field problems. I must admit those finances look worrying especially seen as the pre-season is meant to be better due to season ticket sales…I just hope you can figure out where the cash is going too soon.
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 12:32
Thanks Darren,
This cash drain is a bit worrying and I may have to look again at some of the player salaries which I hope to drop that budget over the coming seasons as I did with Vancouver.
Martin F.M.J.S
5 июля, 2012 at 10:55
A good pre season Kevin with some good signing. Park-Chu-Young is a great signing and its a shame to see you hammer my favorite team in Australia Melbourne Victory 4-0 :D Good luck with the rest of the season :D
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 12:34
Hi Martin
Sorry about that early season bashing of your team. I didn’t expect such an electrifying start to be honest — especially that hat-trick by Chu-young
TheZiggy
5 июля, 2012 at 12:08
Good pre-season, and superb opening day victory. Park Chu-Young looks like he’ll be tremendous for you.
I’ve never tried an asymmetric formation, and I can see how it could cause the opposition some problems. Looks like it could be another good season.
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 12:36
Hi Ziggy
Quite shocked really to get such a good player on the team so he’s going to be a great asset. It’s the first time I’ve tried an asymmetric formation but it just seemd to fit the players I had available. Seemed to be okay in pre-season at least.
Dan
5 июля, 2012 at 13:28
Hey Kevin,
Park Chu-Young is an immense signing for the A-League and hopefully you’ve got your talisman up front sorted for the season. Your finances aren’t looking great at the moment but I’m sure you’ll find a way to sort them out. I like you tactic too, it looks very well thought out and it’s nice to see an unusual shape rather than the traditional «flat lines» approach. :)
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 23:07
Hi Dan
I was delighted to get a player of such calibre for this league and will no doubt be an excellent asset going forward. I’m glad you like the new tactic, it’s the first time i’ve tried something different.
Tegar Triemanudigdo
5 июля, 2012 at 15:46
Wow! You have great signings there in your squad, particularly Park Chu-Young who I believe that he will be an integral part during your campaign, and he’s already proved it by scoring hat trick against Melbourne Victory FC there.
I can’t wait your next post here.
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 23:08
Hi Tegar
Thanks very much mate. I hope they all perfrom to expectations and nice to hear you are looking forward to the next episode :)
saltwater
5 июля, 2012 at 17:00
Not much left fo me to say — but I do like uneven formations and they are really effective as they confuse disorganise the other team.
Great start to the season and I expect this to be a very interesting season for Sydney.
Two final questions: When does you Champions League campaign kick off? And Australia don’t have a cup competition, do they?
Good luck!
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 23:35
Hi saltwater
Glad you left a comment even though you are low down on the list :) I’m happy you like the new tactic — I hope it’s effective but seems to do well so far. I’m not sure when the ACL starts and they definitely don’t have a cup competition :( I think it will be in FM 2013 though.
Frank
5 июля, 2012 at 17:09
Hi Kevin,
Great pre — season with some terrific signings, especially Park Cho Young. Also a nice 4-0 victory over last seasons runner up shows that you look to be a step ahead in class. The real challenge will be the ACL, Good Luck :)
Kevin
5 июля, 2012 at 23:37
Thanks Frank
It’s definitely a great start to the first full season at the helm and i’m looking forward to that ACL challenge to see where we have to travel too!
Bhargav
6 июля, 2012 at 19:30
What a solid start! Great job, Kevin. I especially like your formation. I think I will tinker around with mine as well. I’ve never really given asymmetrical formations much love . . .
Ana Garcia
6 июля, 2012 at 21:19
Great signing in Park Chu-Young I feel he will be a real star if you manage to qualify for the ACL despite his age he should be a a super signing for you.
Finances will always dwindle at least I found the same thing when managing in Australia I guess you will have to sell to make money which is never easy!
Looking good so far am interested to see how things went, good luck. :)