Managing All Over The World

Hello everyone and welcome to the next post in my European Alphabet Challenge series. So this post will cover 2 sections, both of which are about me getting a job. One is at club level, in my new country of employment, Croatia, and the other is an International side. I will show key players from both sections:

Club Job: Croatia

So having done rather well in a horrible league, aka Bulgaria, I found myself looking for work in Croatia. You may know one or 2 teams from the Croatian top flight, but it’s not a well known league. So, who would I be joining?

I joined RNK Split with the hope of overcoming teams like Hajduk and Dinamo Zagreb. One thing I have noticed is that unlike a lot of league, the Croatian Premier Division is very…. uncompetitive.

Dinamo Zagreb won the title 13 times in a row, only having that run quashed last season when Hajduk beat them to 1st. The 2nd place spot usually varies with Hajduk and Reijka whereas 3rd…. well that can be anyone’s really.

Here are Split’s results so far, and the table from when I took over:

You can see where the manager was sacked, not winning in 6 just before the 2nd leg of the Croatian Cup Quarter Final. However you can also see that Split knocked out Dinamo Zagreb in the Cup, and the only teams left in it along with us are teams we can beat. (Slaven Belupo from our division, a 2nd division side and a non-league side). Hopefully we can win the cup this year.

So Split are currently 4th, which isn’t too bad, however I would ideally like to finish 3rd.

Now let’s look at some key players for the squad:

Luka Karega: GK

The young keeper is from our academy and has 4 star ability with 4.5 stars in potential. He is a very good keeper and shouldn’t need replacing for the time being. I have high hopes for him this season as he is one of the main members of our defensive set up.

Sandro Rak: DM/MC

Another academy player, Sadro Rak will start in the DM role. His attributes say it all really, he’s good enough despite being young and he is a fan favourite due to his ‘through the ranks’ nature.

Kristian Komar: MC

I was told by my assistant, (who is the Swedish midfielder Kallstrom by the way), that Komar was ready for regular first team action. I have decided to include him in the ‘key players’ purely to see how he gets on. Yet another academy boy.

Dejan Radotic: MC

Easily the best midfielder and player at the club currently. Academy player once again, and despite being just 21, he has 4.5 stars in ability and 5 stars in potential. If he shines for us, he may attract high levels of attention and I feel I need to keep hold of him.

I joined the club in the transfer window and after assessing the side, I felt we could use another striker. Enter my first and only signing for Split so far.

Nestor Riquelme: ST   (Loan Fee £1k p/m — From Independiente)

I managed to get Nestor Riquelme on loan for a cheap loan fee of £1k p/m. I’m hoping his 16 finishing will prove lethal in the league and we can use him to overcome weaker sides.

Wish me luck with Split and now onto the International side of the post:

International Job

So having left Venezuela, I felt I was ready to re-enter the international scene again. I had a very short stay with England which lasted around a week, I found their squad to be rather weak in key areas. I found this nation looking for a manger and was offered the job right after resigning from Levski.

I will quickly show you the key players and I will leave out the little bit of text below them as I did for Split.

Eder Arroyo: GK

Marco Antonio Ruiz: DR

Hector Moreno: DC

Eder Ruiz: DM

Jose Antonio Ruiz: MC

Jorge Herrera: MR

Armondo Izazola: ML

Carlos Fierro: ST

So, some really amazing players there. Cannot wait to see them in action.

Thanks for reading and please comment/vote!