La Liga, the Champions League, the Club World Cup – all fall before the might of the squad I assemble. It’s only the Champions League that eludes me with Napoli, and so I leave Naples for the fervour of Real Madrid, and immediately create a squad that lives up to the Madridista legend. We dominate Italy, winning all domestic trophies much to Juventus’ disdain - not to mention the frustration of a newly oil-rich Palermo, who hoover up many of Europe’s biggest stars and towards whom I now harbour an irrational real-world hatred as a result. Under-achieving Napoli have heard talk of one of Europe’s brightest young managers, and offer me the chance to rehabilitate them, and turn them into a team that can consistently qualify for the Champions League

The foundation of the greatest run of form in the club’s history is built on loans and free transfers as I lead Darlo from the Conference to the Championship – where the eyes of the footballing world watch with shock as we survive, still penniless, in a midtable surrounded by ex-Premier League clubs. These are just generic press shots of FM2012 rather than of Daniel's specific game, for reasons that will become clear. But a bargain basement brand of football works. tragically go out of business in the real world, so money is tight to say the very least. For some real world context, this is just before Darlington F.C. It’s a tough start, both winless and penniless. So that’s how I remain until the fateful day Darlington F.C., in the fifth tier of English football, take a punt on me. They know only the option to start the game unemployed. I’m having an existential crisis and the line between real and fictional is melting.įor anyone familiar with the process of starting a new save file on an Football Manager game, you’ll know that you can parachute in to manage a team of your choosing. Now, as I finally wind down my Football Manager 2012 playthrough through an unholy combination of bugs and, well, having won everything, the future beckons. My avatar, managing Tottenham Hotspur, is 67.

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