Fledgling 39-year-old Football Manager Robaatu Rasamu was on the job hunt, fresh from completing a thesis exploring the evolution of the beautiful game. He was keen to follow in the footsteps of his heroes, including the likes of Marcelo Bielse, Fernando Diniz, Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti. But, with no coaching experience and only Sunday League Football playing experience, getting that first job could be tricky.
Rasamu wasted no time in applying for vacancies that were available on 3 July, including a couple of roles in his native Japan and clubs in South Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia. Six days later, he attended his very first Football Manager interview with Malaysian club Melaka FC then two more interviews with Japanese side Kamatamare Sanuki and South African side Black Leopards.
Sanuki took five days to ask Rasamu for his staff changes, of which he could afford zero with the amount of compensation available. Another two days later, on 16 July 2023, the Japanese side made an offer that meant Rasamu was staying in Japan to begin his managerial career. He signed a one-year deal, earning £800 per week to become the Manager of Kamatamare Sanuki.
Who are Kamatamare Sanuki?
Kamatamare Sanuki is a professional football club based in Takamatsu, the capital city of the Kagawa Prefecture on the island of Shikoku in southern Japan. The club’s name combines Kamatama, which is a type of udon noodle bowl and features on the club crest, and Mare, the Italian word for sea, and Sanuki is the former name of the Kagawa Prefecture.
The club was first founded in 1956 by students of Takamatsu Commercial High School using the name Takasho Old Boys Soccer Club. It rebranded to Kagawa Shiun Football Club in 1991 and became the leading side in Kagawa. Nine years later, a dubious change saw it become Sun Life Football Club, when the consumer loan company Sun Life signed a sponsorship deal for the club’s naming rights!
But in 2005, after a brief stint as Takamatsu Football Club, it announced its intention to take J.League status and became Kamatamare Sanuki. The club won the Shikoku League in 2010, which saw it move into the JFL then, in 2014, moved into the second-tier J2 League. But after five years at that level, Sanuki were relegated to J3 League in 2019, where they remain. Last season, the club finished 17th of 20 teams to narrowly avoid relegation.
Sanuki plays at the pretty-looking 30,099-capacity council-owned Marugame Stadium or Pikara Stadium, which is around 25 miles west of the city of Takamatsu. The club also has a handful of rivalries, playing the East Shikoku Classico Derby against J2 League side Tokushima, the North Shikoku Derbies against fellow third-tier sides Imabari and Ehime FC and the Setouchi Bridge Derby against J2 League Okayama.
Kamatamare Sanuki in FM24
Sanuki has fairly average facilities with 8 training facilities, 6 youth facilities, 7 youth recruitment and 7 junior coaching, plus a one-star reputation. Things look better financially with £1m in the bank and no debts, a transfer budget of £293k and a wage budget of £18,900 of which £800 is going spare.
Having started the save in July, the Japanese leagues are in full flow. Sanuki were widely expected to finish bottom of Meiji-Yasude J.League Division Three (we’ll stick to J3 League) with title odds of 250/1. But after 18 games of the 38-game season, Sanuki find themselves sitting 13th on 24 points, a healthy 12 points clear of the two relegation places. They’re also on a five-game unbeaten streak, of which they’ve drawn four, and have only lost once in the last 10 after a shaky start of six defeats in the first nine.
Luckily, Rasamu’s first-ever board only expects him to avoid relegation. While the supporters, one-third of which are core fans, expect the side to become an established J3 League team.
Meet the Kamatamare Sanuki Squad
The best player at Sanuki is winger Yuto Mori, who’s currently the club’s top scorer with five goals in 20 games. Other key players could be holding midfielder Nao Eguchi, centre-back Kei Munechika, full-backs Takashi Kanai and Ikki Kawasaki, striker Himan Morimoto, who’s oddly only started once all season, and midfielder Kazuki Iwamoto, who’s out for up to three months. There are also a couple of promising centre-backs in Takumi Narasaka and Keisuke Tao and a decent young striker in Soshi Iwagishi.
Rasamu also had a few promising youngsters to develop in the youth teams, led by 15-year-old striker Tatsuya Yamada. Other talents to keep an eye on were striker Kokoru Maruyama, midfielder Tsubasa Aoki, centre-back Makoto Takashima and midfielder Toshiya Miyasaka.
Rasamu had a little bit of time to settle into his first-ever football club and start thinking about tactics and getting started with training his side. His first match wasn’t for eight days, when he’d take his Kamatamare Sanuki side to 17th-place FC Osaka.
Can Rasamu hit the ground running at Sanuki? Or will his total lack of experience see them dragged back into a relegation battle? Join us on Thursday to find out!
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