Oktober Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 In recent years, the challenge has run on here to use the club side from San Marino to spur on the tiny national side to greatness. Unfortunately it's not running this year... but San Marino isn't the only micro-country represented in Europe... To the north, in the Swiss footballing pyramid, lies the team of FC Vaduz - a representative from the miniscule principality of Liechtenstein. Lacking their own domestic setup - the only UEFA member to do so - Liechtenstein's teams play in the Swiss football leagues, mostly at amateur levels. This challenge is to take the team of FC Vaduz* from the footballing wilderness, and use their continued growth to spur on the Liechtenstein national team. Rules: Several leagues can be running on view-only, but the Swiss pyramid should be the only one playable. Attribute masking should be enabled. It's recommended to load all players from Liechtenstein in the setup - it will provide a lot more dross, but make the national team managable. Player naming is allowed - the overall focus is in the long term and focused on regens, after all. Manager reputation should be set to Automatic. Should this challenge and its games run into the long term, there are a number of very interesting possibilities that may arise... Firstly, the FM11 dynamic league reputation could ensure that the glass ceiling effect of playing in relatively lowly Switzerland is negated. Liechntenstein may lack a domestic league - but they DO have a UEFA affiliated FA, and a sole Europa League spot with it. In exchange for missing out on the Swiss Cup, Vaduz instead get a guaranteed European adventure every year! ...which invariably ends in the earliest possible stages in Eastern Europe, but still. The long-term focus should be a heavy investment in youth development at the club, with the hope that as the team's reputation rises all the way to European Champions the local lads quality will increase too. Of course, there's no harm in allowing foreign nationals to naturalize with their lovely EU Liechtenstein passports... *=The star after Vaduz though was for one theoretical situation that could arise... you see, Vaduz aren't the ONLY Liechtensteiner team in the game. It's theoretically possible, if unlikely, that the miniscule Eschen/Mauren could at some stage gain promotion to the playable Swiss Challenge League. Were Vaduz to be safely established as a youth development hotbed of European football... attempting to enhance a SECOND footballing force and academy within the country could certainly boost chances, even if it would be extremely challenging... Good luck to all who are interested, I'd love to see some of the old San Marino challengers having a go at this, I can only hope its a fraction as successful! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 interesting challenge.... i've always had a soft spot for Lichtenstein after reading a book on the place a couple of years ago and have often come close to giving Vaduz a go..... Maybe this could be the time to do it.... One thing to clarify, can you also be international manager from the start of do you have to apply to get the job when it becomes available? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 You can do either - I was planning on using the same rules as the old San Marino challenge, generally in that one the manager just resigns or retires a few years in and you can easily get the job if you apply. It was very loose - it was allowed to forcibly take the job and resign from it in order to get it, I wouldnt consider that cheating. Generally though you're not going to make any sort of waves until you're a long way in, so allowing it to just run its course and taking the job when the manager retires in 2020 or so will probably be the first chance you get to actually achieve anything. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Great idea, I enjoy these kind of challenges, I had a fun time with the San Marinese and Indian ones over the last few years. Just loading up my game now... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatton90 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I really enjoyed the San Marino challenge, wasn't very good at it mind! but I'll be giving this one a go definitely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Made it through the 2nd Qualifying Round of the Europa League with a comfortable 4-1 agg. win over Zeta, but lost 5-3 to a superior Banik Ostrava side in the next round. A little disappointed to realise that Lichtensteiner clubs are not granted entry to the Swiss Cup but otherwise I am pleased with the club's start, sitting in 6th in the league after 7 games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 I think the first task for a few of us will be finding whoever it was in charge of the wage budget before, and firing him. Preferably out of a very large cannon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I think the first task for a few of us will be finding whoever it was in charge of the wage budget before, and firing him.Preferably out of a very large cannon. I totally agree.. I've only brought in three free transfers (to keep costs to a minimum, and as the squad is fairly strong anyway) and the worst contractual offender Florian Sturm has been placed on the transfer list and a couple of expensive loans have been terminated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatton90 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I've been finding hard to bring players in, they all want more wages than I can give them! all players on ridiculous wages won't leave because they've only just arrived . I'm going to go looking for youngsters to hopefully mould them for future Liechenstein duty!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 3, 2011 Author Share Posted January 3, 2011 2010/11 - FC Vaduz - Swiss Challenge League - Final Position: 9th Team - Transfers Not exactly a marker laid down for the rest of this challenge, but I'm glad to have that first season out of the way. The focus was very clearly on rebuilding, we were never going to get close to achieving anything worthwhile with the players available to us. Positives? Well... we've got a new chairman coming in who might provide some money? And we did bring in at least some players who can be at the centre of things going forward. We'll be looking to make wholesale changes over the summer, and trying to keep to SOME sort of budget. Frankly, we could improve in every single area of the pitch - particular focus will be on adding some determination and strength to the midfield, which I like to focus on in my spine of the team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taunton Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 This look like a fun an intersting challenge. One question though, I read on wikipedia that Vaduz participate in the Liechtenstein cup. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Vaduz Is this a fact in the game as well? Good luck to all of you who will try this challenge. I'm very tempted myself now to see if I can bring some success to Liechtenstein. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Club: Fußball Club Vaduz Season: 2010/11 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £83k Wage Budget: £14.9k Opening Balance: -£398.3k Closing Balance: -£1.55M Board Expectations: Mid-table Media Expectation: 6th Your Expectations: Mid-table League Record: Pos 8th, W 11, D 11, L 8, F 42, A 22, Pts 44 Europa League: 3rd Round Qual, 3-5 agg. vs Banik Ostrava First XI: (4-4-2) Jehle; Schwegler, Cerrone, Denicola, Quennoz; Ciccone, Burgmeier, D'Angelo, Bellon; Riedle, Touré. Top Scorer: Kader Touré 16 Top Assister: Kader Touré 9 Average Attendance: 1299 Fans Player Of The Year: Kader Touré My Player Of The Year: Kader Touré Notable Results: 5-0 vs Wil, 9-0 vs Delémont Transfers In: Three free transfers and two young loanees in. The best of the bunch was a Togo international who holds the record for being the national side's most capped, highest goalscoring, and best ever player. No, not Adebayor - Kader Touré. He currently has 60 in 93 for Togo and showed why while playing for us. For just £575p/w, not a bad signing in my books. Best Buy: Touré Worst Buy: Owusu Benson only started a game twice. Transfers Out: Nobody came in for our highly paid players, which is annoying, so no sales. Best Sale: - Table Round-Up: Mediocrity in general. The finances are a real worry, as we are stuggling to find players who will come for the wages I am able to offer. A couple of big wins mean we end the season as the side with the best goal difference, despite finishing 8th. I feel we played better than the league position demonstrates, but this doesn't help us. Improvement required next season. SEASON DIVISION POSITION NOTES 2010/11 Swiss Challenge League 8th Aims For Next Season: Improve the league performance somewhat, and try to do something about solving the club's financial problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Good news - we're top of the league with 7 wins from 11, still unbeaten in the league. Bad news - takeover imminent, embargo enforced, looking like I'm going to lose my job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Hopefully you can keep your job, and get an achievement for it too! Ours went through just before the summer, just a local businessman who didn't provide any investment. I was hoping that by bringing some steel into the midfield, I could improve on things last season. I'd have to say its looking like I've succeeded there. 1 game over the halfway mark and into the winter break, 7 points clear, most scored, least conceded, two top scorers in the league (while playing a lone striker) and the top 3 in the assists chart with 7 apiece. Things are going very very well, now we just have to keep it up and continue to try and ship out some of the fringe players. I'll go into it more at the end of the season, but I've brought in some key players in the first 11 while relying on loans to provide cover and depth, a strategy that's working out very well so far. Surprisingly, one of our star players is actually someone who was already at the club, who didn't impress at all last season! Now if only I could manage to move on Florian Sturm... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 I like the sound of the challenge, might add it to my list of ones to work through. I do have one question though. Do your players gain nationality for Liechtenstein whilst playing in Switzerland? Or do they get Swiss nationality? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 4, 2011 Author Share Posted January 4, 2011 Liechtensteiner All players will work towards it so long as they aren't declared for a country, so if you get Swiss youth players through then after 5 years they'll be eligable for Liechtenstein - whether or not they accept a call-up is another matter though... Only minor potential issue is that you can't loan them out if you're attempting to naturalise them, you can only send them to Eschen/Mauren or they'd gain a year towards Swiss nationality instead. So its well worth ensuring that you keep them as a feeder, they're linked from the start of the game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Thanks for clearing that up. May shuffle this up the list once I'm done with my Americas challenge game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 4, 2011 Share Posted January 4, 2011 Club: Fußball Club Vaduz Season: 2011/12 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £13.3k Opening Balance: -£1.55M Closing Balance: -£343.4k Board Expectations: Top half Media Expectation: 4th Your Expectations: Promotion push League Record: Pos 1st, W 21, D 9, L 0, F 58, A 17, Pts 72 Europa League: 4th Round Qual, 1-5 agg. vs Saturn First XI: (4-4-2) Jehle; Schwegler, Cerrone, Denicola, Stocklasa; Ciccone, Burgmeier, D'Angelo, Bellon; Frick, Touré. Top Scorer: Mario Frick 17 Top Assister: Gianluca D'Angelo 9 Average Attendance: 1701 Fans Player Of The Year: Mario Frick My Player Of The Year: Damien Bellon Notable Results: 5-0 (agg) vs Arsenal Kyiv, 5-3 vs Schaffhausen, 5-0 vs Chiasso Transfers In: D'Angelo was brought back in on loan after a successful spell during the second half last season, along with versatile Bosnian winger Hajrovic. Experienced Lichtensteiner veterans Frick and Martin Stocklasa were brought in on frees after being released by top flight clubs, to help provide experience and quality to the side. Ifel Taljevic, a Serbian MC of real quality, and ex Man Utd player Quinton Fortune were also brought in to provide depth to the midfield. Best Buy: Frick, he scored plenty and did a very good job as captain Worst Buy: Hajrovic played fewer games than the rest of them, but still did a good job for us. Transfers Out: Quite a few highly paid players were allowed to leave on frees, including, thank goodness, Florian Sturm. Took the wage budget down by about £4/5k despite bringing in as many as were released. Best Sale: Sturm, no doubt Table Round-Up: An absolutely amazing season. We started strongly, and never looked back, going the whole season unbeaten and having a fantastic goal difference to boot. Four strikers all chipped in with 8 goals or more each - Frick and Touré leading the lines, with Hasler and Merenda playing a large part, really coming on from last season. Cerrone was very strong at left back but for me, the player of the season was Damien Bellon, who, despite not looking good at MC last season played nearly every game this time around despite some high profile midfield signings. He provided plenty of assists and goals, and was generally solid all season long. A board takeover took place towards the middle of the season, with local Swiss businessman Lorentz Monnier seemingly happy with how the club was run. A £2m bank loan was taken out - so the increase in club finances are not as successful as they seem. Hopefully playing top flight football will go some way to resolving this. SEASON DIVISION POSITION NOTES 2010/11 Swiss Challenge League 8th 2011/12 Swiss Challenge League 1st Promoted as champions Aims For Next Season: Staying up would be all I want for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 I love that you've brought in the Liechtenstein old guard to provide the final push into the next generation of success! 2011/12 - FC Vaduz - Swiss Challenge League - Final Position: 1st (squad) - (transfers) Well, an excellent season and outcome, although we didn't half make things hard on ourselves after the position we'd put ourselves in! We came back very poorly from the winter break, suffering our first loss in our first game - a 4-0 hammering, no less, and continued to make hard work of it throughout the rest of the season. Our grip on the top spot was temporarily broken by a surging Bellinzona late on, and we feared the worst... before they utterly collapsed, leaving it a two horse race. Equal on points with 2 games to go, it was all surely going to come down to the final game of the season, the final match away at Lugano offering a straight fight for whoever took the points taking the title, so long as we got over the straightforward hurdle of Locarno at home. Sure enough, we managed to avoid complacency enough to go in 2-0 up at the break... where we were stunned to receive the match report from Lugano's match at lowly stragglers Wohlen, where they were 3-0 down at half time! We easily cruised through the second half, while Lugano somehow conspired to blow all their momentum on a crushing 5-1 loss away at a team with nothing to play for, and leaving us needing to only avoid a loss by more than 6 goals to clinch the title! A close 3-2 was more than enough to do it, and we'll be playing next season in the Swiss top tier! We didn't manage to clear out nearly as many players as I wanted, but we did succeed at the aim to bring in some steel to the centre of midfield - Evander Sno, Klodian Duro and Sani Kaita took a lot of hard negotiating to bring to the club, but more than earned their considerable wages with their contributions. Up front, Cristiano ran rampant for much of the season, at one point averaging over 8.00 rating and scoring more than a goal a game. Unfortunately he had a bit of a lean spell towards the end, but still absolutely vital to our campaign. Ultimately our goal for next year will just be to survive and move towards profitability, so that we can get some investment made into the youth facilities. We should for the most part be sorted through the centre of the park, although a younger, fitter replacement for Duro would be helpful, and another quality centre back would help against the increased quality we'll be facing. Really, although they performed to an acceptable standard, our wingers didn't quite provide as much as they'd be expected to within our tactic, so it'd be very useful to have a lot more consistent quality from wide positions in the league up instead of having to rely on forcing ourselves through the centre. I'm not entirely convinced that Jehle will cope with the step up either, but a lot will depend on the world contract picture and how much wheeling and dealing we can get done. There were a lot of decent Swiss young keepers around Europe weren't willing to join our league on loan last time around - maybe they'd be more willing to provide some very cheap cover if they feel they'd be challenged to a higher level. Season | Division | Pos. | Europe | Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2010/11 | Swiss Challenge League | 9th | EURO Cup 2nd Qual. Round | - 2011/12 | Swiss Challenge League | 1st | EURO Cup 2nd Qual. Round | Promotion! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taunton Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Well done to both of you for getting promoted. I am following this thread with great interest, and hope you both will manage to survive in the top tier next season. And if you are lucky, you may be able to get through to the Europa league groups and then the money will start to come. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 I love that you've brought in the Liechtenstein old guard to provide the final push into the next generation of success! It worked surprisingly well actually! Not sure how long Frick has left mind... I'm finding the Super League a real struggle.. We're keeping ourselves above Lugano at the moment though, and having to play a relegation playoff wouldn't be a disaster I suppose. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 5, 2011 Author Share Posted January 5, 2011 Our ability to make money out of the competition has been hampered somewhat by going out in the first possible round to the might of KR, Blazma and Borac on away goals. Only a single game into the new season, but I'm very pleased with how it went, a solid 2-0 victory in the Letzigrund against Grasshopper. We have a very strong first 11 (well... outfield 10 at least), but the level of depth and cover available is truly pathetic, to the point where we've had to bring in loanees from the lower leagues just to make up the numbers, heaven help us if we have to ever actually rely on them. I would really rather like to sign this kid.. He's quite good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Wow, he looks a talent. Signing players from Africa is very achievable for clubs in Vaduz' position, as they are cheap and often want to come to Europe. Just finished our first season in the Super League, finishing a pleasing 7th. Report on its way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Club: Fußball Club Vaduz Season: 2012/13 League: Swiss Super League Transfer Budget: £5.7k Wage Budget: £26.6k Opening Balance: -£343.4k Closing Balance: -£398.2k Board Expectations: Avoid relegation Media Expectation: 10th Your Expectations: Avoid relegation through playoff League Record: Pos 7th, W 10, D 13, L 13, F 38, A 45, Pts 43 Europa League: 3rd Round Qual, 0-5 agg. vs AJ Auxerre First XI: (4-4-2) Jehle; Schwegler, Cilinsek, Denicola, Sitoé; de Ridder, Lenjani, Baumgartlinger, Bellon; Frick, Okaka. Top Scorer: Stefano Okaka 9 Top Assister: Daniel de Ridder 7 Average Attendance: 3684 Fans Player Of The Year: Stefano Okaka My Player Of The Year: Stefano Okaka Notable Results: 4-2 vs Grasshoppers Transfers In: Again, lack of real transfer funds meant I had to raid the free transfer market. Stefano Okaka, Julian Baumgartlinger, Sasa Cilinsek, Daniel de Ridder and Andreas Laudrup amongst others were signed to provide real quality, although the former, who had a brilliant season, is getting itchy feet. If I can get around £2m for him then I'll be happy to let him go. A young Chilean ST, Marcelo Zapata was brought in on loan with a £200k future fee, but although I'm told he can be as good as Okaka, he had a poor season, not finding the net once, and so I don't think I'll be parting with that 200 grand. The other large transfer of the season was the £10k capture of Mozambique DC Edison Sitoe, who I'd been tracking for a while. Best Buy: Okaka, a real coup for the club Worst Buy: Dariusz Kampa, a German GK brought in as backup didn't play all season, got annoyed, and is now on his way out. Transfers Out: A few frees out to free a little more of the wage budget, and a surprising £140k move for Marco Ritzberger from Young Boys which I wasn't going to let pass up. Best Sale: Ritzberger Table Round-Up: I'm currently a manager in demand. Following a job rejection from Aarau last season, I had to reject an offer from Luzern this season, as well as pubicly deny any link to Basel, where I was made favourite to take control following the sacking of their manager. On the field, we started slowly, drawing several times, but we began to pick up and finished a very solid 7th, which we can certainly build on for next season. I'm allowed to scout the entire world now, so I've bought in three more scouts and sent them all out in the hope of finding a few cheap gems. The board, after some gentle coaxing on my part, have also agreed to build a youth academy, costing £300k, and enlarging our youth recruitment programme. Hopefully this will help bring more quality through which will benefit both the club and the Liechtenstein national team in the long run. [u]SEASON DIVISION POSITION EUROPE NOTES [/u] 2010/11 Swiss Challenge League 8th EURO Cup 3rd Qual Rnd 2011/12 Swiss Challenge League 1st EURO Cup 4th Qual Rnd Promoted as champions 2012/13 Swiss Super League 7th EURO Cup 3rd Qual Rnd Aims For Next Season: Build upon the league position, reach the Europa League group stages, and get some decent money for Okaka if we can't hold on to him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatton90 Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Wow, well done mate, I'm still on my first season but hopefully I'll be able to finish it tonight and give updates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I realise I'm probably playing this save too much for my own good, but ah well... Club: Fußball Club Vaduz Season: 2013/14 League: Swiss Super League Transfer Budget: £0k Wage Budget: £32.6k Opening Balance: -£398.2k Closing Balance: £387.4k Board Expectations: Avoid relegation Media Expectation: 10th Your Expectations: Safe mid table League Record: Pos 6th, W 13, D 9, L 14, F 49, A 54, Pts 48 Europa League: 2nd Round Qual, 1-1 agg. vs Osijek First XI: (4-4-2) Zibung; Schwegler, Cilinsek, Denicola, Gahdali; de Ridder, Lenjani, Baumgartlinger, Norregaard; Cristiano, Proschwitz. Top Scorer: Cristiano 22 Top Assister: Daniel de Ridder 12 Average Attendance: 3736 Fans Player Of The Year: Cristiano My Player Of The Year: Julian Baumgartlinger Notable Results: 4-2 vs Grasshoppers, 5-1 vs Luzern, 4-1 vs Aarau, 1-4 vs Luzern Transfers In: I opted for a larger wage budget over a transfer budget, but always had the intention of selling Okaka to provide funds. This was done, and several players were again brought in (mainly on frees) to increase the quality of the side. Young STs Nick Proschwitz and Jose Manuel were brought in, along with experienced Danish MC Hjalte Norregaard. Young Aussie DC Dejan Mitrovic was signed for £75k and the free scoring Brazilian ST Cristiano for £10k. Dominik Reinhardt was signed to provide some depth to the RB position and Saudi central defender Gahdali was brought in to shore up the defence. Finally, a new goalkeeper, David Zibung was signed to replace the ageing and unsatisfactory (at this level) Peter Jehle. Best Buy: Cristiano, for his goals. Worst Buy: Jose Manuel didn't play many, wants to leave, had two trips back to Spain because he was 'homesick' and everybody hates him. Think he'll be moving on in the summer. Transfers Out: A few moved out on frees, Sitoe left for just £10k because nobody liked him either, and of course, Okaka was sold. £2.4m to Standard Liege - not bad when you consider that's all profit. Best Sale: Okaka Table Round-Up: Lots of takeovers around Switzerland this season, most interestingly 'local businessman' (ahem, former footballing great) Gianluigi Buffon decided for some inexplicable reason he was going to buy out massive Challenge League club Rapperswil. Interesting... In the league, Grasshoppers had a stinker, going down automatically, and are joined by Luzern, who lost to Winterthur in the playoff. Reckon we'll see one or both of them back within the year. As far as our own season went - not too bad. Improvement in the league which wasn't visible in Europe but the team is getting stronger, and if everyone can stop bleeding complaining ALL THE TIME then I have a feeling we'll be one of the bigger teams in the Swiss league before too long. Hopefully we won't be favourites to go down again next season, I'd have thought we'd shown the Swiss media what we can do by now. [u]SEASON DIVISION POSITION EUROPE NOTES [/u] 2010/11 Swiss Challenge League 8th EURO Cup 3rd Qual Rnd 2011/12 Swiss Challenge League 1st EURO Cup 4th Qual Rnd Promoted as champions 2012/13 Swiss Super League 7th EURO Cup 3rd Qual Rnd 2013/14 Swiss Super League 6th EURO Cup 2nd Qual Rnd Aims For Next Season: Build upon the league position, attempt reach the Europa League group stages (same again..) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 To put it short: I've just won the Super League, very happy, report to come later. However, we do NOT qualify for the Champions League as a result of this; we suffer what I am defining as the 'Liechtenstein Curse' where we can only play in the EURO Cup (albeit every year). Not sure how I'm going to bring big names and long term Liechtensteiner success when the possibilities of the club are so closed off... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oktober Posted January 6, 2011 Author Share Posted January 6, 2011 Oh man, seriously? I figured you'd just get the Swiss place... does that mean the second placed team got the CL spot instead? Really puts a dampener on things Or would you have to use the dynamic reputation thing to push Liechtenstein into getting more places? I did wonder if Eschen/Mauren would get a spot if you got any more or if it was just hard-coded. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave. Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 Yeah, Young Boys came second and got it.. IRL it seems the winners of the Liechtenstein Cup get it, but as that's not hard coded in it seems the highest placed side get it instead. It's a guaranteed EC spot, but it is only EC. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatton90 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Club: Fußball Club Vaduz Season: 2010/2011 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £29. (Yes I was shocked too.) Wage Budget: £17,475 Opening Balance: -400,000 Closing Balance: Board Expectations: Respectable league position Media Expectation: 5th Your Expectations: Top Half League Record: Pos: 3rd Pl: 30 W: 15 D: 7 L: 8 F: 45 A: 30 Pts: 52 Europa League: 3rd Qualifying Round. First XI: (4-4-2): Jehle, Schwegler, Bader, Mardassi, Denicola, Xhaka, Oulmers, Matthijs, Wook-Jin, Hasler, Merenda. Top Scorer: David Hasler 15 Top Assister: Yoo Wook-Jin 7 Average Attendance: 1479 Fans Player Of The Year: My Player Of The Year: David Hasler - For his goals and his general team play. Notable Results: 4-0 against Lugano. 3-1 against Lausanne (Who won the league) 1-1 draw against Red Star in the Europa League (Well I think that's a good result!) Transfers In: Quite a few came in this season, just really in a way to get the team better, they were all brought in on frees or loans. No big names but experienced DM Matthijs came in to add steel to the midfield, and a couple of young loanees came in including Xhaka from Basel.The rest include Mardassi, Oulmers and Wook-Jin. Best Buy: Granit Xhaka (Loan) from FC Basel. Not brilliant stats but he really changed the team, when he joined we were bottom and then finished 3rd. Worst Buy: Everyone really performed, so could only choose Radoslav Kirilov, who I brought in as a different striker when people weren't performing, played 9 games, scored none. Transfers Out: None! I tried! I really did, but noone wanted my players, there will be a few leaving in the summer because of contract running out. Best Sale: Table Round-Up: I was pleased with this, especially after still being in the relegation zone after 9 games, we really looked like we were going to struggle then. But Hasler started scoring and the team started performing conistiently. Aims for next season: Get promoted, that can be it really, must have a better start and that will prove vital seeing as I only finished 2 points behind top, even after that very poor start. We were very unlucky in Europe, only losing 2-1 on aggregate to a much stronger Red Star Belgrade team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisav145 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Giving this a go. Dont have as much time as most due to horrible working hours but am intrigued as to how far I can get the national side once ive taken over in a few seasons time. Gonna be seriously tough on the money side by the looks of things. Im guessing no1 can get the youth system set up early on due to the funds problem so not entirely sure how its going to be possible to get the youngsters coming through. Looking for a steady first season with promotion in the second season and then see where we can take the team from there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vipertitan Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I like the sound of the challenge here is my profile http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii267/ace25/DavidClarkProfile_Attributes-1.png will post screen shots once ive done the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbowmanuk Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I have taken up this challenge also, after my 1st season i finished in 5th place http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/7365/scl11.jpg i was only able to sign 2 players due to crippling wage bill however i did make the 4th qualifying round of the Europa league losing 5-0 to Feyernoord on aggregate Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benrollo Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Oh man what a great thread to stumble across. I was just checking out the forums for any Liechtenstein-based games going on and I hit the motherload! I am actually an FC Vaduz fan (I've got a shirt and everything ), and the story as to how I became one is a bit long, but needless to say I am going to give this challenge a shot! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black_Waltz Posted February 10, 2011 Share Posted February 10, 2011 Aye, if I recall correctly there is no way to get any Lichtenstein club into the Champions League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benrollo Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 I thought I would post my progress in here as much for my own benefit (to keep me going!) as for anyone else who is bothered . And I hope you don't mind Hatton, I have 'borrowed' your layout Season: 2010/2011 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £24,729 Wage Budget: £15,500 Opening Balance: -£400,000 Closing Balance: -£1.16m Board Expectations: Respectable league position Media Expectation: 5th Your Expectations: Top 5 League Record: 5th, P:30 W:15 D:4 L:11 F:42 A:36 Pts:49 Europa League: 4th Qualifying Round First XI: (4-4-2): Jehle; Schwegler, Ritter, Denicola, Ritzberger; Leocadio, Martinez, Dabo, Dreschel; Merenda, Pedro. Top Scorer: Pedro, 11 Top Assister: Arlan Monteiro Leocadio, 12 Average Attendance: 1825 Fans Player Of The Year: Luca Denicola My Player Of The Year: Pedro - Banged in some nice goals and would have probably hit 15+ if he hadn't taken a leave of absence! Transfers In: Herwig Dreschel (3k), Pedro (24k), Orlando Martinez (free), Gerard Lifondja (free), Ousmane Dabo (free) Transfers Out: Pascal Bader (10k), Pascal Cerrone (45k), various youth players (free) Transfer Notes: Dabo still looks very solid, Pedro brought in some Spanish class, and Martinez gave me some South American grit. On the sales front, I managed to offload Cerrone who was a bit 'wagey', and Bader who was very much surplus to requirements. I also have Diego Ciccone leaving in the Summer for 24k, and Beni Fischer joining Italian side Giulianova on a free. I also plan to let some other players leave to trim the wage bill as much as possible! Round-Up: I'm a little disappointed with 5th, but at the same time I wasn't really wanting promotion until I could get wages in check and put my own stamp on the side. I managed to get some talented youngsters in, so hopefully we can build on a solid opening season. In europe, we pulled off a great 6-4 aggregate win over Austrian top division side Rapid Vienna, winning 3-2 home and away. Unfortunately for us we drew Liverpool on the 4th qualifying round! After a very very respectable 3-1 defeat at Anfield, things went mental at the Rheinpark Stadion and we eventually lost an incredible game 7-4! Aims for next season: Promotion would be great, although the main aim is to get the finances well in check and start looking towards youth. I've left screenshots out but if anyone wants a look at a player, or anything else, just let me know Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_shocker7 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 I'm in http://img600.imageshack.us/i/vaduz.png/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_shocker7 Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 any kit packs or team logos available? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benrollo Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 Well the second season is over and it went pretty well to be honest! Season: 2011/2012 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £16,750 Opening Balance: -£1.16m Closing Balance: -£1.20m Board Expectations: Respectable league position Media Expectation: 5th Your Expectations: Promotion League Record: 1st, P:30 W:21 D:8 L:1 F:72 A:34 Pts:71 Europa League: 3rd Qualifying Round First XI: (4-4-2): Coltorti; Koning, Fukal, Denicola, Corcoles; Pasche, Dabo, Lifondja, Martinez; Pedro, Emeghara Top Scorer: Emeghara, 16 Top Assister: Dabo, 10 Average Attendance: 1718 Fans Player Of The Year: My Player Of The Year: Innocent Emeghara - a loanee from Grasshoppers, the 22 year old striker was a major contributing factor in my promotion campaign Transfers In: Milan Fukal (free), David Corcoles (free), Fabio Coltorti (free), Gerry Koning (free), Nicolas Marazzi (free), Fred (free), Santiago Raymonda (free), Alexander Pasche (loan), Innocent Emeghara (loan) Transfers Out: Beni Fischer (free), Diego Ciccone (24k), Marco Colocci (10k), Roland Schwegler (80k), Mathias Christen (35k), Franz Burgmeier (8k), loads of out of contract seniors and useless youths (free!) Transfer Notes: My scout earned his money this season as I desperately looked for players who could improve the side whilst fitting inside my tiny wage structure! Fukal turned out to be my best signing, really shoring up the backline whilst offering a real threat from corners. Round-Up: An excellent season only slightly undermined by a poor performance in Europe, where I was soundly beaten by Russian side Terek. Domestically, my best looking youth prospect Marco Otto made 4 league appearances and obviously did enough to impress the national coach as he was called up and gained his first full international cap for Liechtenstein. I dont think he'll be cracking my lineup any time soon, but internationally he could make a contribution going forwards. Here's how he looks Marco Otto It's also worth noting that my financial situation would be a lot worse if it wasn't for the chairman injecting a total of £1.3m into the club! Next season, I'm looking for survival and hopefully profitability! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
quirk Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Taking a break from my long-term game and decided to give this a go. Have followed the layout used by the others. Got promoted in my first season! Season: 2010/11 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £83k (same amount remaining end of season) Wage Budget: £18.75k (got it raised from after asking board for more wage budget) Closing Balance: -£0.73M Board Expectations: Mid-table Media Expectation: 6th Your Expectations: Top half League Record: Pos 1st, W 18, D 8, L 4, F 44, A 22, Pts 62 Europa League: Lost 4th round qualifying against Stuttgart First XI: (4-2-3-1) Jehle; Schwegler, Cerrone, Denicola, Bader; Carlinhos, Lifondja, Dampha, Rogerio; Martic, Merenda. Top Scorer: Denicola 10 Top Rating: Ivan Martic 7.34 Transfers In: Free transfers - Gerard Lifondja, Carlinhos, Rogerio Loans - Abdourahman Dampha, Ivan Martic (best signing), Oliver Buff, Florian Berisha Transfers Out: Marco ritzberger, Franz Bergmeier Round-Up: A slow start to the season where we languished in the bottom half for the first few games, then picked up a few gears. Remained in top 4 positions for majority of the season. Club was taken over mid season by a local businessman. Aims For Next Season: Avoid relegation. Try to strengthen the attack as I am quite satisfied with our defence (conceded least goals in Challenge League) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benrollo Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 Nice work on the promotion Quirk! Nice signing with Lifondja as well, been very solid for me. I've kept playing this challenge but didnt update my last season, maybe I should now someone else is joining in the fun! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
quirk Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Nice work on the promotion Quirk! Nice signing with Lifondja as well, been very solid for me. I've kept playing this challenge but didnt update my last season, maybe I should now someone else is joining in the fun! Thank you! Just about to embark on my second season. Have found it almost impossible to get good loan signings this season due to the loan cost or the wages contribution. I have busted my wage budget in an attempt to prevent relegation. Hopefully I can go on a good euro cup run to earn some money! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benrollo Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 2 seasons have passed since my last update so I will give a wee overview of what has been happening for those 2 years and get back into the full swing of things at the end of the current season. 2012/13 - Swiss Super League Amazingly, I have managed to finish 2nd in my debut season in the Super League. I went for the Blackpool approach - simply try and outscore opponents! Despite conceding more goals than the teams finishing in 3rd and 4th, our forward line lead by new star signing Giovani Sio did enough to secure a great finishing position. I managed to poach Giovani for a measly £1,000 and 30% sell on from perennial Super League strugglers Sion. Several other players joined Sio, I was particularly pleased that we managed to snap up Italian midfielder Luca Di Matteo on a free after he was released by Palermo. To add to our outstanding league performance, we also managed to make the group stages of the Europa League. Our biggest scalp of the qualifying round were Turkish giants Galatasaray, who I managed to beat 3-2 at home before holding out for a 1-1 draw away. We didn't fare so well in our group however, with just 1 point taken from our 6 games in which we faced a tough trio of Twente, Valencia and Genoa. I wasn't too disappointed, we had managed to get further that I had hoped and I was determined to at least make the group stages again the following season. On the financial front, we managed to make some money courtesy of a few friendly tours in the preseason and winter break (I felt a bit cheap doing this, but we needed cash and we certainly had enough time to feasibly make the tours!). We also received a failry large chunk of prize money for our position in the Super League and our performance in Europe. For the following season, my aim was to consolidate our place in the upper echelons of the league and try to strengthen the squad whilst keeping wages down - something that isn't easy when every crap youth prospect that comes through is on a 3-year £330 a week deal! 2013/14 - Swiss Super League Another great domestic season saw us once again take 2nd spot in the table. In the offseason my main aim was to strengthen my defence, and was rewarded with the tightest back-line in the league. A huge portion of credit has to go to my new keeper Jan Mracek, who ridiculously turned down Barcelona to join us! Bringing him in put me in a position to sell my previous number 1 Fabio Coltorti to Espanyol for a tasty 600k, with all the transfer money I received from that deal immediately being pumped into wages. These funds gave me a little leeway to sign a player, but I then went and signed 6 players and overshot my wage budget by the best part of 10k per week! I knew it was risky, and the board got on my back early, but I hoped I could bring in more money through prize money and ticket sales. I also sold and released players sporadically through the season to rein the wages in a bit, although I still finished the season about 5k over. With my significantly stronger squad I was expecting to at least make the group stages in Europe, and hoping to pick up a win or two when (and if!) I made it. Our path to the group stages was much easier than last season as we dispatched Albanian side Kastrioti, Anorthosi from Cyprus and finally BATE Borisov of Belarus to make the group stage. We also got an easier group than last season, joining PAOK, Marseille and fellow Super League side Zurich in Group J. My boys oudid themselves with a total of 10 points gained after wins against PAOK twice, and a win and draw against Zurich. Marseille were on another level completely, and they dispatched us 2-0 in both ties. I was hoping for one of the weaker sides in the knockout stage, but we were drawn against Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, who went on to beat us comfortably 6-2 on aggregate. Again, I couldn't be too disappointed, the lads put in some great performances to get us as far as they did. Financially we really improved courtesy of our results in Europe, and the board taking 85% of the Coltorti deal. At the end of the season our balance sat around the £3m mark. And that brings us up to speed! Apologies for the ridiculously long post but wanted to try and cover as much as possible. As usual, any screenshot requests or questions let me know Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizza Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Right, I have just completed the a big club/small club challenge so this looks something different. Count me in. I'm interested to see if a period of long term dominance does change the amount of Liechtenstein European qualifiers, if it doesn't then I can see this challenge being slightly unrewarding. But until then... FORZA VADUZ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatwal Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 You could try this http://www.thedugout.net/community/showthread.php?t=71729 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizza Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Season: 2010/11 League: Swiss Challenge League Transfer Budget: £0k (converted all to wages for obvious reasons) Wage Budget: £17,500 (actual spend £20,000 by the season end, but we were up at £23k at one point) Closing Balance: -£0.8M Board Expectations: Mid-table Media Expectation: 5th Your Expectations: Top half, but would have been disappointed not to at least give a decent push for promotion Ave attendance: 1,824 League Record: Pos 1st, W 22, D 6, L 2, F 58, A 22, Pts 72 Europa League: Lost 4th round qualifying against Celtic Best XI: (4-3-3) Jehle; Schwegler, Konde, Denicola, Bader; Sara, Angelo, Aimiron; Abregu, Apolito, Fischer. Top Scorer: Apolito 17 Top Rating: Apolito 7.53 Transfers In: Free transfers - Alvaro Apolito, Ezequiel Abregu, Thomas, Marcelo Gonzales, Dario Almiron, Rubens Vesinday, Luan, Ayoub Rachane, Oumar Konde, Angelo (more on this later, but I didn't realise about the 4 non-EU rule, so took anyone that agents offered me and looked better than my current crop, Mistake!) Loans - Adriano De Pierro Transfers Out: Merenda £40k, Ritzberger £24k, Schweiger £12k loan fee (needed to free up wage budget) Round-Up: I paid no attention to the rules of the league and ended up with probably 10 non-EU players that I'd happily have had in my first team. This cost me quite a lot of money and left me unbalanced in terms of first team quality. My initial approach was to field my strongest strikers, with a view to blasting my way out of the league, however after a few months of that I realised Hasler and Fischer were pretty okay, so I could field those and get a little more flexibility in the rest of the side. The non-EU rule is quite an interesting one and may keep my interest in the challenge for longer than I realised, it should hopefully give me an incentive to play more local talent rather than just buying the best players I can find. Aims For Next Season: Hopefully mid-table, I think my first team is quite strong, but needs completely rebalancing. I'll need to get myself back below wage budget and shall need to sell some bodies to achieve this. I hope there's more income in the top division! Europa League group stages are a realistic and necessary objective! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Furia Roja Posted February 28, 2011 Share Posted February 28, 2011 just finished Gundo's challenge, so im going to kick this one off now! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizza Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Season: 2011/12 League: Swiss Super League Transfer Budget: £0k (converted all to wages for obvious reasons) Wage Budget: £34,000 Closing Balance: £2.8M Board Expectations: Avoid-relegation Media Expectation: 10th Your Expectations: Mid-table, thought I would be able to avoid relegation easily Ave attendance: 3,838 League Record: Pos 7th, W 12, D 9, L 15, F 52, A 59, Pts 45 Europa League: Lost 4th round qualifying against PSG Best XI: (4-3-3) Jehle; Schwegler, Konde, Rigione, Gonzalez; Andreasen, Luan, Aimiron; Abregu, Vonlanthen, Purje. Top Scorer: Vonlanthen 16 Top Rating: Vonlanthen 7.48 Transfers in (Italics denote Christmas window deals): Michele Rigione, Hans Henrik Andreasen, Johan Vonlanthen, Stefano Alba, Nikola Saric, Ars Purje; Markus Schuler, Anton Zlogar, Eyal Meshumar, Christian Haselberger, Eduardo, Martin Hansen, Alberto Quintano, Nikos Dabizas (£3k), Denny Landzaat, Candido Costa, Daniel Ferreyra, Aki Riihilahti, Sani Emmanuel (£20k), Elkin Mosquera (£14k) Transfers out (Italics denote Christmas window deals): Fabio Rosamina, Benjamin Fischer, Thomas (£20k), Christof Ritter, Mario Sara, Mathias Christen, Damian Bellon, Sabia, David Hasler (£230k), Franz Burgmeier (£14k), Pascal Cerrone (£16k), Diego Ciccone (loan), Alvaro Apolito (£200k), Luca Denicola (£275k), Marcelo Gonzalez (£325k), Johan Vonlanthen (£3.3m), Marco Colocci (loan), Roland Schweigler (£60k) Okay, strangest season I've probably had in FM. We brought in a handful of bodies during the close season, but my only real interest was to clear myself back below budget. I had 26 youth players come through, all of whom were on £325 per week!? Anyway, one of those players was Johan Vonlanthen, I have no idea why he wanted to come in on £2k per week, but I wasn't going to argue. At the mid-season break I sat 2nd in the table. It was tight from 1st to 4th in the table, but still I was very happy. During the break I had a bid of £3.3m for Vonlanthen which I wasn't going to turn down and I had no choice anyway because it met his release clause. I used this as an opportunity to bring in some depth to my squad and fill in the holes which were gaping in my squad. I brought in 8 players and to say they didn't gel is an understatement. I won two games in the rest of the season, one of which was when I got frustrated and went on holiday. Our freefall would have resulted in relegation had it not been for the great start we had. Hopefully with minimal movement in the close season, our team will have a chance to gel and we can mount a title assault, our team is much stronger than the one that sat second at Christmas and the Swiss league doesn't seem particularly strong. But the second half of last season mystifies me! (Although having typed out the transfers in and out, perhaps it makes more sense) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Furia Roja Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 can i ask what peoples strategies are for the International part? Are you trying to upgrade your youth to try and get some good talent coming through, or trying to bring in some foreign talent young and have them gain nationality etc? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brizza Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 can i ask what peoples strategies are for the International part? Are you trying to upgrade your youth to try and get some good talent coming through, or trying to bring in some foreign talent young and have them gain nationality etc? I've found it very difficult to get the board to upgrade anything, despite having money in the bank (actually they won't let me have parents, feeders or a relaid pitch either). My instinct is that I'll have to build a team that consistently wins the title and competes in Europe, by doing so I will have stockpiled enough money and board respect to improve the facilities significantly. Also that'll have taken around 5 years, so almost by default I'll have some of my players beginning to take up Liechtensteiner nationality. This definitely isn't a short-term challenge! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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