3. The Ultimate World Football Manager Game- Starting out at EDC

 

About EDC

EDC are the Cambodian Electricity Company’s football team, or I suppose the country’s equivalent of the National Grid. They are based in Phnom Penh the capital and play at a ground called Prey Veng, otherwise known as The Electricity Stadium. EDC were only formed in 2015 and are semi-professional. They play in the C-League, the top flight of the Cambodian domestic league.1  Thanks to @Timo I have the C-League, along with the Cambodian Second League, which is split into three groups A-C and each contain fourteen teams, with the top team from each group gaining promotion to the top division. Three teams are also relegated from the C-League. The Cambodian football season runs from March to October, which means as I am starting the game in July 2020, I take over EDC halfway through the current campaign. After 14 games we lie in 10^th place, but a reasonably comfortable 7 points above relegation. My remit from the board is for me to keep EDC in the C-League this year. This would not normally be a problem if this was say in The Conference North, where I know the teams and league inside out, but as I am on complete unknown territory here, it makes the task somewhat harder. Such is the beauty of the journeyman save! By the way I absolutely love the fact that the EDC club badge has electricity pylons on it. Brilliant!

What I Know About Cambodia

Not very much to be honest. I guess I will get to know this country better as I go along while managing their Elecrticity Company’s National Grid's football team…

What I know about Cambodian Football

 

 

Meeting The Players and The EDC Squad – First Impressions

Having sorted my squad in terms of ability according to my Assistant Manager (whose name escapes me for now) the stand out here is a 15 year old left back called Ouk Ratana, who has a 5 ability and potential star rating. The other names to look out for are Suon Veasna (AMR/L), Moul Daravaon (DC), Sok Chanraksmey (ST), Tum Saray (AMLRC) and Moun Nara (D/MC), who according to my assistant are the best players.

The First Team Squad

Goalkeepers

Sam Chammoureun - At 28 he should be my first choice, but his stats are not that great.

Kong Rafat- He is only 17, but has quite a bit of potential and so I will consider making him my no1 if he can take the pressure at his tender age.

Kouch Vandeth A young 16 year old keeper with some potential.

Defenders

Ouk Ratana DLC - A player of high promise, though only 15. A tackling of 12 and many other stats above 5 make him a decent choice with plenty of room for improvement. He can also play in central defence.

Chan Dara DL - A veteran left back aged 34, who looks as though he was decent but his stats are going south, Might be useful in big games where experience is needed.

Ouch Panaseth DL - A 20 year old left back with not great stats. A back up option at best.

Maul Daravon  DC - Statistically our best defender and a key player, with good marking and tackling attributes.

Suon Makara D/MC - A versatile and experienced defender, who will probably partner Daravon.

Moun Nara D/MC A decent back up who can play in defence or midfield.

Nhem Theara DRC - We are not overly blessed with right backs, so I've plucked this kid out of the reserves as there is nobody else. We'll see how he does.

Midfield

Nan Punlock DMC/MC - A decent ball winning midfielder, with a tackling of 11.

Savy Sedsody DMC/MC - A decent young prospect, who will be there or thereabouts in my plans.

Ouch Udom MC/AMC- A young 16 year old attacking midfielder with potential.

Suon Veasna MR/L A good winger who can play either side. Dribbling 10, Crossing 8 Pace 12.

Tum Saray AM/LRC A highly rated player but his stats don't convince me on first impressions.

Ly Pheng ML - A pretty useless left winger with no pace.

Hem Chetra  AMR/L - A pacy winger who can play on both flanks.

Long Rothsery MLC - A young midfield prospect who has already broken into the 1st team.

Sok Sengdara MC - An experienced midfielder who could do a job.

Mao Mol AML - A young left winger with decent potential.

Forwards

Sok Chanraksmy - Our best and most experienced striker with a finishing of 12 and even some international experience. Finishing 12, Pace 10, Heading 10 are his stand out stats.

Phanny Y Rotha -  A good striker with pace and decent finishing, but little else.

Choum Chum - An experienced striker with international experience, but at 34 years old is probably past his best.

Math Voeuen - A young striker with a finishing of 14, but little other endearing qualities.

Sam Chammeroun - A young striker with some potential, but not ready for first team yet.

There are other newgen young players in my reserves and under 21 teams which may pop up from time to time.

No Nicknames Needed & Currency

One thing I like about Cambodia already is the names are quite easy to learn and pronounce, which means I will not have to use the ‘Set Nickname’ feature to simplify their names. For the purpose of simplicity I have kept the currency as the default Pound Sterling, meaning that wages and transfer fees will be conducted in English currency rather than the Cambodian Riel or US Dollar, which in real life are the units of currency in Cambodia.

My First Press Conference

Eyebrows were certainly raised across the world of football at the appointment of Jonathan Rudd as manager of EDC. 'You cannot speak Khmer' barked the hacks from the Phnom Penh Gazette. 'Football is a universal language,' I cooly replied, smiling warmly. You may not be able to hold onto Tum Saray.. 'Well we'll see what happens with that..not really sure who he is to be honest, is he the goalkeeper?...' According to my Press Officer, this was just fine!

Betting Odds & Expectations

As the odds of us to win the C-League are 450-1, then I don’t think we are really much cop against the rest of the division, apart from the few teams below us. The only way I will find out is by looking at the other teams, assessing their strength and try to pick up as many points as I can in order to stay clear of the relegation zone. I can see Veasna, Daravon and Chanraksmey are the best two players at the club, but I have no idea how they match up to the players in the top teams in the league, such as 6-5 favourites Vishaka or 10-3 shots, Beoung Ket. EDC are 11th most likely to win the C-League out of 14, so I can see we are certainly not the biggest fishes in this particular pond. The only thing I can compare this team to is where they would sit in the English League pyramid and on first impressions they would be a mid-table Conference North/South side at best.

Board Expectations and Club Vision

Luckily the expectations from the board are pragmatic, but not quite as bad as Brechin City! They want us to avoid relegation from the C-League. EDC had already been knocked out of the Prime Minister's Cup before I took charge, so I will not be judged on this. Moving forward they just want us to establish ourselves as a permanent C-League team. Judging by the fact that EDC are only 5 years old this seems to be a sensible approach.

Our Stadium & Facilities

Our ground is called Prey Veng, with a capacity of only 1,000, which is hardly conducive to an electric atmosphere. However, with a team full of electricians, at least the floodlights will always work. The training and youth facilities are rated poor, but I didn't really expect anything else. Despite this we have a few decent young prospects in the squad.

The 2020 Season So Far

In the season so far, EDC actually got off to a decent start with three straight wins, but then hit a slump in form, losing seven games in a row. I pick up the season after 14 games, halfway through the season and we 10th in the table, but a healthy 7 points away from relegation. My first game is against Bati Youth who are deep in the relegation zone. I haven’t a clue what they are like, or what EDC are in comparison, such is the beauty of managing a football team in a completely unknown country like Cambodia! 

The C-League Table (after 13/14 games)

1st - Svay Rieng  35pts

2nd - Nagaworld  31pts

3rd - National Police 27

4th - Boeung Ket 25

5th - Phnom Penh Crown 25

6th - Ankhor Tiger 22

7th - Vishaka 22

8th - National Defence 19

9th - Kirivong 17

10th - EDC 15

11th - Asia Euro United  14

12th - Solitio Angkhor 8

13th - Bati Youth 5

14th - Kampong Cham 3

My First Game in Charge

Amidst all the chaos of taking charge of a new club in an unknown country and league I also have a game. 

Game 1- Bati Youth (H) 25/07/20

Pre Match expectations

My first game in charge of EDC on the day after I take over the job, yikes! I have no idea what to expect from my players. I know we are far from the best team in the league, but looking at the squad and results before I took over the reigns,  we are a capable team and can compete in this league if we play well. Looking at Bati Youth they are as the name suggests, an academy team who are 13^th in the league and are full of kids. This should hopefully be a nice easy three points to pull us further away from the bottom of the league towards mid-table. In the process it will give me a nice first look at my players and hopefully a successful start to my EDC career.

Team Selection

                            Rotha                Chanraksmy            

Saray                Punlock           Sengdara    Veasna

Ratana                Makara        Daravon             Theara

                         

                                          Kong Rafat

Subs: Sam Chammeroun (GK) Ly Pheng, Choum Chum, Hem Chetra, Moun Nara, Ouch Udoum, Chan Dara

Result: EDC 1-2 Bati Youth

                                                 Chanrakmy (pen) 21                 Sambo 27, Oudoum 51
                                                  Sengdara s/off 55

I’m not really sure how this game was lost against a team full of 16/17 year olds, but it really is not as bad as it sounds. All was going to plan when Chakraksmy drilled a penalty into the bottom corner and the game in our favour. Like England v Iceland it seemed like a case of how many we could score. However some poor marking from a corner let in their player Sambo to hammer the ball into the top corner for 1-1 from their only attack before half time. At the interval I was confident we would win the game comfortably in the second half. Chance after chance went a- lbegging and their keeper was like a Cambodian Thomaschevsky. Then 5 minutes of madness when a breakaway was briefly halted by Ratana, our 15 yr old full back only to slide tackle the ball into their onrushing player who squared it for Oudom to sidefoot it into the net unmarked. Then an innocuous 2^nd booking for our midfielder, Sengdara, who was having a decent game from a free kick put us down to 10. Even then after that we still pushed forward for an equaliser, with sub Chum going close. Really unlucky to lose this one against a team we should be beating if we want to play C-League football next season....

Oh dear! Not quite the glorious start to life at EDC I'd hoped for. In fact I lost to a bunch of kids in my first game. Things can only get better surely, Can I rally the troops to keep EDC in the Cambodian top flight, or will this be the worst footballing mistake of my life? Find out next time....

Click Here for Part 4- Trying to Find A Spark