vikeologist Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge The History: This challenge was created for FM15 by LetsGetReadyTo The Rules: The 32 Competitions you must win to win the challenge 10 Leagues La Liga (Spain) Premier League (England) Bundesliga (Germany) Ligue 1 (France) Serie A (Italy) AND 5 OTHER TOP LEAGUES. 5 Champions Leagues Champions League (Europe) Champions League (Asia) Copa Libertadores (South America) NACL (North American Champions League) ACL (Africa Champions League) 6 International Tournaments UEFA Euros (Europe) AFC (Asian Cup Of Nations) Copa America (South America) Gold Cup (North America) ACON (African Cup Of Nations) <Not the African Championship of Nations - CHAN> FIFA World Cup 11 Others Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations required where all the top level teams are entered (apart from Mexico - see post 3) FIFA Club World Cup ------------------------------------------------------------ Your manager must be 20 years old at the start of the game, (or 19 if that happens because you want to use your real birthday) Start Unemployed (and continue unemployed as long as you like). Sunday League Reputation No Coaching Badges (at the start. You can and should obtain them along the way). Starting attributes can be allocated as you wish. No additional languages beyond those generated by your nationality(ies) Any nationality (it doesn't have to be your genuine nationality) Second nationality only if you genuinely have a genuine second nationality and you have used your real primary nationality No disabling attribute masking in the full version of the game No use of in-game editor for anything other than cosmetic changes (e.g. team strips). All other advanced options (e.g. adding players to playable teams) are allowed. (See advice below in post 3) Any version of FM from Football Manager 2015 onwards is allowed, (Classic, Full Fat, Touch, Mobile) but note the instructions for Touch below You can start with any number of nations loaded, any database size, any start date NEW - You can use official SI expansion leagues, i.e. Canada, but apart from those you cannot use any customised databases, for instance to add playable nations or divisions Finally - Don't reload matches. We're pretty laid back about your playing the game however floats your boat, but the whole point of this challenge is that you might fail, in either big or small ways. FM Touch Instructions To do this challenge on Touch you will need to unlock national management before you start this game. You can do this either by having unlocked it in a previous save and then restarting, or by purchasing it. If you don't do this, you will never be able to manage an international team, which would make the challenge impossible. You could also unlock / purchase the attribute masking before starting, but this is discretionary. All other unlockables in Touch are strictly banned so if you have unlocked any, please ensure that they are not activated at the start of the game. I think you need to remove league and nation restrictions at the start of the game so that you can add and remove leagues throughout the game. Edited November 3, 2021 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Edited November 11, 2020 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) League Specific Clarifications Mexico - Some Central and South American nations have 2 league championships a year; the Apertura and Clausura. Both count in Mexico. The Mexican Cup also counts towards the challenge. Not all the top division clubs (the ones in continental competition) are in it, but it's the only domestic cup in Mexico. Australia - If you manage Wellington Phoenix, bear in mind that they can't play in the Asian Champions League. To win the league you have to win the Finals Series playoff at the end (league champions). Winning the regular season doesn't count towards the challenge. MLS (USA) - For challenge purposes the MLS Cup counts as the league, and the US Open Cup counts as the cup. The Canadian Championship unless you have the official Canadian league add-on), and the league section of the MLS (Supporters Shield) don't count for anything. South Africa - Either the FA Cup or Knockout Cup count towards the challenge. The Super 8 Cup doesn't. Uruguay - The Torneo Intermedio counts as a domestic cup. The league is the Campeonato Uruguayo, not just the Apertura or Clausura A Very Small Piece of Advice I recommend using the advanced option when setting up the game to add current international players from Asia. This should increase the number of nations available to manage in Asia, and make it easier to win the Asian Cup. There are lots of different ways of going about this challenge. Should one start at a lower division club in a high reputation nation or the top division of a low reputation nation? Time and experience has provided some measure of insight into this, but I hope that new starters will explore their own path (or read the first 1,300 or so posts to find out). I will give one piece of advice though. Don't take the first job you're offered at the start of the game. It may be worth waiting 6 months of unemployment at the start of your game for the right opportunity. Starting at too low a club can add several seasons to your challenge. It's going to take you long enough as it is. Progress Reporting You can report your progress however you wish, but at the point where you want to be included in the leader board above, could you use the 2 update tables that have become popular. This is the most basic version of the first one Season Team Position Notes and Achievements Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations) 0/10 domestic cups () 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments () 0/1 world tournaments () To do these tables you need to 'go advanced'. You click on the code button (#) and then paste in your text. I would suggest preparing your text in the program (probably) on your computer called Notepad. Edited May 1, 2020 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Should you be interested in reading about The Golden Age of this challenge; Edited November 10, 2020 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormandyWept Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 (edited) Welcome everyone to the new thread! Newcomers: to introduce myself, I'm currently one of the closest to finishing this challenge on FM15 (Classic mode), with two landmarks left to achieve, and yet I've had one of the longest journeys there: my in-game manager is 85 years old, and currently trying to restore Hamburg to the heights of Europe to finally claim the Bundesliga and Champions League titles that remain outstanding on my landmark list. Here's my latest update... Season 2078/79 - Hamburg League | Schedule Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3 A fifth season in charge of Hamburg, and after reinventing ourselves tactically (back to my old 4-1-2-2-1 I'd used with Brazil and elsewhere, rather than the far-too-open 4-4-2 of last season) and buying the squad pieces that we needed to support that, we finally began to realise some of the potential of our exciting young squad. I was bitterly disappointed to lose our unbeaten home record in the final home game of the campaign, but otherwise the campaign went brilliantly. We lost only the most difficult of away games en route to a third-place finish and, finally, a return to the Champions League, and also capped the season with a superb Cup Final triumph over one-time dominators Schalke. We have a good squad which is almost entirely under contract, so I hope for evolution rather than revolution this summer, with Champions League monies hopefully able to push us on to top titles from here. Challenge Progress Club 9/10 top domestic leagues (ARG, ENG, ESP, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, POR, USA) 11/10 domestic cups (AUS, BRA, DEU, ENG, ESP, FRA, IND, ITA, KOR, MEX, POR) 4/5 club continental championships (Africa, Asia, N.Am., S.Am.) 1/1 club world championship International 5/5 continental tournaments (Africa, Asia, Europe, N.Am., S.Am.) 2/2 world tournaments (WC, Confed.) Seasons CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014/15 RSA Ajax CT 12th Took over with 3 games remaining, in 15th 2015/16 RSA Ajax CT R2 R1 Sacked after 16 games, in 16th 2016/17 AUS Wanderers 6th QF 2017/18 AUS Wanderers won Sacked after 22 games, in 10th 2018/19 IND Dempo GS Sacked after 19 games, in 11th 2019/20 IND Bengaluru 6th SF F 2020/21 IND Bengaluru 2nd won F 2021/22 IND Bengaluru 1st GS won CC R2 2022/23 IND Bengaluru 2nd won F CL Q3E 2023/24 IND Bengaluru CC QF Resigned after CC QF defeat/before league season 2024 KOR Jeju 5th SF 2025 KOR Jeju 8th SF 2026 KOR Jeju 8th QF 2027 KOR Jeju QF Left for Pohang after 32 games, in 7th 2027 KOR Pohang 5th won Took over with 6 games remaining, in 5th 2028 KOR Pohang CL GS Sacked after 16 games, in 5th 2028 KOR Jeonbuk 5th SF Took over with 20 games remaining, in 7th 2029 KOR Jeonbuk R4 Sacked after 35 games, in 7th 2030 KOR Jeju Left for Wellington after 16 games, in 4th 2030/31 AUS Wellington 10th 2031/32 AUS Wellington 10th 2032/33 AUS Wellington 7th 2033/34 AUS Wellington Left for Perth after 4 games, in 6th 2033/34 AUS Perth 9th Took over with 23 games remaining, in 10th 2034/35 AUS Perth 7th 2035/36 AUS Perth 5th/SF 2036/37 AUS Perth Left for Seoul after 12 games, in 2nd 2037 KOR Seoul 1st SF CL won 3rd 2038/39 MEX Chivas 6th/SF 3rd/ F QF won 2039/40 MEX Chivas 11th 2nd/QF CL won 2041 USA New York 1st/won R4 2042 BRA Internacional 5th 1st/won won Reached 1,000 games in management 2043 BRA Internacional 1st/won SF CL QF Left for Lanus after 34 national games, in 7th 2044 ARG Lanus 6th R5 CS P2E 2045 ARG Lanus R5 Left for Velez after 15 games, in 11th 2045 ARG Velez 4th/1st CS QF F Took over with 14 games remaining, in 1st 2046 ARG Velez 5th/4th R7 CL won won 2047 ARG Velez 1st R7 CL QF 2049/50 FRA Monaco 4th F R4 EL GS Sacked after final game of season 2050/51 ITA Inter 4th F EL R2 2051/52 ITA Inter Sacked after 16 games, in 14th 2051/52 ITA Lazio 8th Took over with 21 games remaining, in 12th 2052/53 ITA Lazio Sacked after 5 games, in 17th 2054/55 RSA Wits 10th R1 Took over with 12 games remaining, in 13th 2055/56 RSA Wits R1 R1 CL won 5th Left for Valencia after 29 games, in 8th 2056/57 ESP Valencia 7th R5 EL GS Sacked after final game of season 2057/58 FRA Monaco 3rd SF F EL won 2058/59 FRA Monaco 2nd SF R4 EL F 2059/60 FRA Monaco 1st won QF CL R1 2060/61 ITA Roma 3rd R1 CL QF 2061/62 ITA Roma 3rd R1 CL GS 2062/63 ITA Roma 3rd F EL F Reached 2,000 games in management 2063/64 ITA Roma QF CL QF Resigned after 33 games, in 8th 2064/65 ITA Lazio 10th R1 2065/65 ITA Lazio 9th QF 2066/67 ITA Juventus 1st won CL R1 2067/68 ESP Valencia 2nd QF EL GS 2068/69 ESP Barcelona 1st won EL R1 2069/70 ENG Man City 7th R3 EL won Took over with 23 games remaining, in 10th 2070/71 ENG Man City 3rd R4 R3 CL R1 2071/72 ENG Man City 1st won R4 EL SF 2072/73 POR FCP 1st won won EL QF Reached 2,500 games in management 2073/74 ENG Fulham 11th R4 Took over with 18 games remaining, in 17th 2074/75 DEU Hamburg 8th F 2075/76 DEU Hamburg 6th R3 2076/77 DEU Hamburg 4th R3 EL GS 2077/78 DEU Hamburg 7th R3 EL F 2078/79 DEU Hamburg 3rd won INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2032 Saudi Arabia 12 Joined 11th Jul, 29th in FIFA Rankings 2033 Saudi Arabia 25 2034 Saudi Arabia 49 GS 2035 Saudi Arabia won Resigned 4th Feb, 38th in FIFA Rankings 2036 Norway 61 C Joined 27th Jul, 54th in FIFA Rankings 2037 Norway 57 2038 Norway 44 B 2039 Norway 39 Resigned 14th Nov, 39th in FIFA Rankings 2042 Tunisia 36 Joined 20th Jul, 42nd in FIFA Rankings 2043 Tunisia GS Resigned 27th Jan, 37th in FIFA Rankings 2047 South Africa 22 Joined 17th Feb, 10th in FIFA Rankings 2048 South Africa 19 2049 South Africa won Resigned 7th Feb, 19th in FIFA Rankings 2049 USA 14 Joined 1st Aug, 9th in FIFA Rankings 2050 USA 19 GS 2051 USA won Resigned 30th Jul, 31st in FIFA Rankings 2052 Spain 9 Joined 21st Jul, 7th in FIFA Rankings 2053 Spain 10 won Reached 1,500 games in management 2054 Spain 1 won Left for Brazil 2nd Aug, 1st in FIFA Rankings 2054 Brazil 14 Joined 3rd Aug, 13th in FIFA Rankings 2055 Brazil 15 GS 2056 Brazil 2 2057 Brazil 6 2058 Brazil R1 Sacked 15th Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings 2058 Spain 8 A Joined 21st Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings 2059 Spain 18 2060 Spain 2 won 2061 Spain won won Resigned 9th Jul, 2nd in FIFA Rankings 2062 Brazil 6 Joined 23rd Jul, 6th in FIFA Rankings 2063 Brazil won Resigned 7th Jul, 8th in FIFA Rankings Edited March 29, 2017 by NormandyWept Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 28, 2015 Author Share Posted October 28, 2015 NW - Are we assuming that newcomers to the challenge need to be introduced to you because they won't have read the nearly one and a half thousand posts on the old thread. I'm sure that they'll all want to do that to respect our history and tradition. This is where I'm at Challenge Progress Club 6/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, S Korea, China, Germany, Spain, Italy) 7/10 domestic cups (South Africa, S Korea, Mexico, China, Germany, Spain, Italy) 4/5 club continental championships (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe) 1/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (European Championship) 1/2 world tournaments (World Cup) I haven't made any progress since July, (maybe June). I'm in what you may call a bit of a slump. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormandyWept Posted October 28, 2015 Share Posted October 28, 2015 NW - Are we assuming that newcomers to the challenge need to be introduced to you because they won't have read the nearly one and a half thousand posts on the old thread. I'm sure that they'll all want to do that to respect our history and tradition. Let's be honest, even reading the summary table at the end of my posts is quite the history lesson for aspiring Ultimate Challenge aficionados! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysdailydose Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Hopping to the new thread, although I'll be staying with FM15 for quite a while. Still, I was one of the primary posters pushing for a new "never-ending" thread to try to get us up there with the "name" challenges, so I figured I'd better get my American arse here, stat! I just advanced to the Barclay's Premier League where I'll be starting play in 2020-21. I've one League Two, League One, and the Championship in a four-year period -- and feel I'm on the verge of starting my silverware collection! Welcome to all new challengers, and thank you Vikeologist for getting things going for the future! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 I mentioned on the old thread some of the potential challenge killing bugs I'd be looking out for, (or even actively trying to make happen) but of course one important thing was to check that the old 'bug' is still in place; namely that an unemployed 20-year old manager with no relevant qualifications, experience or skills could get a job as manager at an even vaguely reputable football club. Thankfully nothing has changed. I got a job! It will be interesting to see what kinds of jobs new starters get, or accept; and for that matter if they start at a lower level than the job I was given. I'm probably not actually going to continue with that save. I'm just playing around, and wanted to see if I could get a job with a specific club in that division. (I couldn't. No other club in that division even offered me an interview, and my desired club laughed when I expressed interest in the media). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 It took me the better part of two months to get a job. Most weren't even bothered to invite me for an interview. Those that did usualy found an excuse not to hire me. So that seems to be working as it should. I'll do my first update when I finish this season. Hopefully tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 So we have a new common thread for FM15 and FM16 hmmm. OK Lets give it a go! My name is The Earl and I was the first manager to complete this challenge in FM15 (Full version). Currently I have started another try in FM15 with even heavier rules. I might give FM16 a go soon, but not yet. Please read my last couple of updates from the old thread: Sorry but I am not going to post more stats from my game today anyway. I decided to jump into another "project" and will shortly post more updates from that instead. What did I decide to do? Well I am not going to play FM16 straight away, so I am doing The Earls ultimate Ultimate FM Challenge. What is this you may ask? Well here are the "rules that I set for myself. - Start an entirely new career on FM15. Full version. Start out as 20 year old with 1 nationality, 1 language, no coaching badges, Sunday League experience. (My nationality is French in this game by the way, born in Paris). - I can´t win the same competitions as in my previous game, with some exceptions, but at least never win them with the same team(s). - I have to win top division in England, France, Germany, Spain, Italy. But to do this I will have to manage a team that in-game is in Tier 2 (or lower) and take them to the top-flight and win the league with that team. If I get sacked or move clubs, I will have to find a new team in Tier 2 and start over again. (Or move to another country for a while). Just as a note: In my previous game A.Madrid went down to Tier 2, so they would have qualified as long as I took charge while they are in Tier 2. - Cup wins in those 5 countries doesn't count with the exception of French FA Cup and DFB Pokal in Germany, as I never won those on my old savegame. It will still have to be with a team that I bring up from Tier 2 though. - South Africa: I have to manage a team there as its the only country manageable in Africa. But I will not count league or cup wins in S.Africa, just African Champions League, and it can't be with Kaizer Chiefs. - I can never manage any team at all in: Brazil, Mexico, Scotland, Portugal, Holland, South Korea. - I can manage a club in Greece, but I can't count cup win there, as I have already won the Greek Cup. - As for national management, I can't win World Cup with either France or Paraguay. I can't win Copa America with Brazil, I can't win Asia Cup with South Korea, I can't win Euro Nations with Italy nor Confederations Cup, and I can't win African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast or Gold Cup with Mexico. This should make one amazing challenge, that I am not sure if I can do, but it will test my skills to the limit. Especially it will be interesting to see how I can win UEFA Champions League as I can never manage any of the big clubs in Europe, unless they suffer a relegation to Tier 2 domestically first. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris Earl III stepped nervously into the boardroom of Francisco Artés Carrasco Stadum, Lorca, Murcia, Spain. Just 20 years old he was given an interview as manager of La Hoya. Would he get the job? And what could this unproven manager accomplish if he got the job? Stay tuned for more info... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 vikeologist - In reponse to your question in the old thread, I was lucky enough to dodge the Copa Liber bug, my memory isn't great and I'm not gonna trawl through the past thread but wasn't it something to do with having the Brazil leagues active before a certain year? Something like that anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsGetReadyTo Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Thanks for continuing this vikeologist When I get the game; I will have to try this again and finally complete my own challenge! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I've started anew in FM16. My avatar this time is Albano Duro named after a regen striker several versions ago. The leagues I've loaded initially are here. Currently un-employed and looking for work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 I'm totally out of the loop and had no idea the 'beta' keeps game progress upon release, with that in mind I'm about to finish my final season in 15 and jump on the 16 bandwagon tonight! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Okay, I'm up and running and ready to balls this all up, had some fun with the create a manager, not an accurate representation! Manager Profile Much like yourself blackdevil, going to try the European route this time out Leagues Loaded Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Super_Gord, Blackdevil and Karax - Looking forward to your reports of your FM16 Ultimate experience; especially Karax because the other two are veterans. There are definitely tactics or approaches that one can use on this challenge. Have any of you new starters done anything significant with the distribution of your initial manager stats? I kind of fudged the 'clarification' issue by saying that we can adjust each side of the stats, but it has to stay balanced. The thing is I don't know if this initial distribution would make a difference or not. There are definitely stats which haven't improved much for me at all on my save. Do people think that we should just allow people to do whatever they want with the initial stats? Blackdevil - Your manager is only 19! This doesn't matter, but you may be the first teenager, and hopefully not as jaded by life as the other challengers' managers. SuperGord - Can't see your profile (or other screenshot) at all. Don't know if its a problem at your end or you're an enemy of the Chinese state and falling foul of the Great Firewall. Karax - I'd say two months is quite quick to get a job actually. I mean, you have to wait for the season to start and someone to underperform, and we can probably get slightly higher division jobs in the latter part of the season once clubs are rooted at the bottom of the table and prepared to give absolutely anybody a job. LGRT - Always glad to hear from you. Just to let you all know. I did send LGRT a private message warning him that we were about to start a new thread. This challenge was a really great idea, and we have LGRT to thank for that. I really hope that you do have another stab at your challenge sometime. NW - Glad you're (finally) in the Champions League, and anticipating your ultimate victory soon. I wonder if our avatars will age in the game. Will be fun to see what a NW or (in the other challenge a Dafuge) look like in their senescence. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 SuperGord - Can't see your profile (or other screenshot) at all. Don't know if its a problem at your end or you're an enemy of the Chinese state and falling foul of the Great Firewall. Perhaps! does imgur fall foul of the restrictions? Can anyone else please check the links to see if they work for them, much appreciated! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Super_Gord, Blackdevil and Karax - Looking forward to your reports of your FM16 Ultimate experience; especially Karax because the other two are veterans. There are definitely tactics or approaches that one can use on this challenge.Have any of you new starters done anything significant with the distribution of your initial manager stats? I kind of fudged the 'clarification' issue by saying that we can adjust each side of the stats, but it has to stay balanced. The thing is I don't know if this initial distribution would make a difference or not. There are definitely stats which haven't improved much for me at all on my save. Do people think that we should just allow people to do whatever they want with the initial stats? Karax - I'd say two months is quite quick to get a job actually. I mean, you have to wait for the season to start and someone to underperform, and we can probably get slightly higher division jobs in the latter part of the season once clubs are rooted at the bottom of the table and prepared to give absolutely anybody a job. I'm used to get a job on the first round of applications. guess I'm a bit spoiled I actualy got a job late into the season. I ended up in China with about 8 games to play. I erred on the side of caution and left my points distribution halfway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Blackdevil - Your manager is only 19! This doesn't matter, but you may be the first teenager, and hopefully not as jaded by life as the other challengers' managers. Ah yes, started in June/July. No doubt in a years time I'll have grey hair and high blood pressure and cynical view of the world. The hardest part of job hunting is finding a club with the right sort of kit colour. And I've just noticed that my DoB has changed to 1994 so Albano is now 21.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 FC Haka Season Review 2015/16 League Table - 3rd Took me a while to get a job, received knock backs from teams in Ukraine, Romania and Belarus before FC Haka decided I was the chosen one, they play in the Finnish First Division which is in fact the 2nd league in the structure. Turns out FC Haka used to be a mainstay in the top league and Europe before what I can gather several financial difficulties crippled them and now they're stuck with me. I took over with them in 5th position with only three games to play, after a bit of tinkering I shoe horned in my 5-2-1-2 formation from last year and lead them to a strong finish winning all three games and picking up manager of the month along the way. My major problem is finances, a good chunk of my squad are leaving at the end of their contracts or are already signed up to another team for next season, so it looks like an almost full rebuild will be on the cards. It begins! 2015/16 FC Haka 3rd Finnish First Division Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Ah yes, started in June/July. No doubt in a years time I'll have grey hair and high blood pressure and cynical view of the world.The hardest part of job hunting is finding a club with the right sort of kit colour. Well, you'll notice that this challenge does allow the use of the in-game editor for cosmetic purposes. My teams may be crap, but I need them to look snazzy. Mind you, it's kind of silly that I buy it just so I can change the strips. Also the power of the IGE scares me, and especially how easy it makes cheating. It would be easy to accidentally click on the wrong button and move a player to my team, although I suppose I could just disable the IGE. I also used the IGE to establish that my guy hates certain clubs, although for the sake of a harmonious thread, I will choose to draw a veil over the specifics. Of course this is against the rules of the challenge. Let me know if you object to this, so that I can use the IGE to make my guy hate you. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Haha, I think all opposing managers end up hating me Would be nice if clubs changed their away strip occasionally though and even the design of the home strip. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 29, 2015 Share Posted October 29, 2015 Season report 2015 Dalian Aerbin"][/url] Competitions After aplying around the world the good folks of Aerbin took me in. They play in the second tier of China. At the start of the season they were among the favorites to go up. After 23 games, however, they found themselves 15th. Just in the relegation zone. That's where I came in. 7 games later we are 9 points clear of relegation. This was to the liking of the board who are allready promising a big increase in budgets for next season. Season Team Position Notes and Achievements 2015 Aerbin 10th Team was 15th when I took over Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 29, 2015 Author Share Posted October 29, 2015 Karax - really not trying to hog the thread, but, yay, Dalian! My hood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEarl Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 Those of you playing FM16-BETA version, how many seasons can you play on BETA before the full version is out? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 It's unlimited. The only thing to show that it's the beta is the little note in the bottom left hand corner saying it's in beta. That'll be removed on Friday the 13th. Minor update: Albano attended a couple of interviews in his search of his first mamagerial role before being offered and accepting the post at Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (Panegialios F.C.) based in the town of Αίγιο. It's an 11 hour drive down the coast from his home town of Velipojë in Northern Albania to Αίγιο in the South West of Greece. The team is in the 2nd tier of the Greek league and 4th from bottom, in the relegation zone and 4 points from safety but with enough games to aim for a mid table finish....if we win those games that is. Now to decide what my tactical philosophy will be....choices choices. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayihavecookie Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 9Season 2022/23Borussia Dortmund - BundesligaLeague Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3 | Schedule 4 | Manager Profile Oh what a strange season with a very lucky ending for us. I set my goal to win the league first try and if possible take the DFB Pokal as well. We invested some money to build a squad that would be strong enough to beat the invincible Bayern. Playing with a big transfer budget for the first time in my career I realized how hard it is to bring in the right players if you're rich but the other teams are rich as well. Forget about German talents, it's impossible to catch a talented young German player from another Bundesliga team unless you're willing to buy 30 millions +, so I had to go for old players and foreign players instead. I bought Mesut Özil from Bayern who was still strong enough for a good season, English goalkeeper Fraser Forster, also Dutch striker Adam Maher as a F9 to support Ballon d'Or winner Gabriel Barbosa and Hungarian CB Kenny Otigba. The biggest part of my budget was spent on world class Swiss left back Ricardo Rodriguez. We started really well in the league with 7 wins out of our first 8 games and a draw away to Bayern. Then of course Rodriguez, who hadn't been injured since 2019, tore his hamstring and was out for 3 months. We still played a really good first half of the season with 44 points from 17 games sitting comfortably in first place. I decided the team was strong enough to reach my goals without any more transfers, we were first and Rodriguez would be back after the winter break, making us even stronger. Two days after the transfer window was closed, Rodriguez broke his leg and was out for the rest of the season, leaving us with a real problem in left back. Then we lost at home against Bayern due to a stupid goal in injury time and away against Köln and we were already down to 2nd place. We didn't really recover. Always won two or three games then lost again, even against teams like 1860 München. But somehow, I still don't really understand how, we suddenly were given a last chance to turn it around when Bayern lost away to Augsburg four games before the end of the season. We played Bremen the next day and I knew, if we won this match we would make it. We were down 2-1 after the first half and I cursed my team. Then I decided to change to the 4-4-2 I succesfully used with Cameroon. We equalised after 80 minutes and in a dramatic showdown, Gabriel Barbosa scored the winning goal with a header in injury time. We then played the remaining four games with the new tactic and got the 12 points we needed with a 5-0 against Stuttgart, a 4-0 against Frankfurt, a 4-2 against Hoffenheim and a 3-0 against Augsburg. Bayern lost their last game against Hannover and we even finished four points before them, 1st in the league. In the Champions League we were handed a tough group with Inter, Arsenal and Maccabi. We went out with 8 points so we went into the 1st Knockout Round of Europa League. We beat Olympiakos, Everton, Roma and Man Utd on our way to the final. There we beat Napoli 3-0 with two freak goals, making us Europa Lague winners even tough I rested most of my first team for the cup final against Bayern. --------------------------- The day of the DFB Pokal final, I had already made my decision to leave Germany and look for another challenge. It was a season full of surprises with very frustrating periods. Dortmund will have some problems to solve next year. Many players are starting to get old and are making more and more mistakes. Özil and Gündogan are injured most of the time and Barbosa had a bad season and wasn't even shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or this year. Also the finances went to insecure due to the absence of Champions League money and the expensive old players. But someone else will have to solve these problems. I won the title I needed with some luck and I am happy to leave sooner rather than later. I went into this game knowing it would be my last one with Dortmund. And before I even knew what was going on, we were down 0-2 after 5 minutes. For the rest of the first half, my team was chasing after the ball like children. Bayern dominated and had some big chances to decide this game, but somehow we made it to half time just two goals down. In the break with all the players gathered around me, I informed them of my decision to leave Dortmund. There was nothing to lose anymore and I hoped they would react positively and try their best to give me a win as a farewell present. It worked. Loran scored with a header just five minutes into the second half, and for the rest of the game we were chasing the 2-2. Neuer couldn't be beaten anymore though, and in the final minutes of the game Bayern scored twice to win 4-1, beating us in the final for the second time in a row. The next day I got a call from a number starting with +34. A Spanish manager trying to buy Gabriel Barbosa? I was no longer the right person to call for that. It was Florentino Perez, and he offered me the manager post at the biggest club in the world. ... Flying to Madrid, I couldn't help looking back at my short career in disbelief. Who would have thought that moving to China would turn around my life like that. Maybe my Director of Football at Renhe thought it was a good idea to make that English loudmouth youngster - the captain of his youth team who had just learned Chinese - become manager of his team. Or maybe he was just really really desperate. The other players however weren't that impressed with his decision. But they learned soon enough that it was worthwhile listening to what their new manager told them. Success came fast and after two and a half years we surprisingly won the Chinese Super League. I was still only 22 years old, but two times Chinese Manager of the Year and winner of the Super League and FA Cup. This was enough to get me a job at a South Korean top team. With Chunnam I didn't manage to win the league, but I won my first continental title, the Asian Champions League. After a year I moved to Jeonbuk, where I won the ACL again, as well as the K League Classic and the FA Cup. Around that time I also became manager of the South Korean national team. There I experienced the first big disappointment of my career when we were knocked out of the Asian Nations Cup in the quarter final and I was sacked for the first in my career. Then I decided to turn my life around again and move to Africa. There I had some big success during my three seasons at Kaizer Chiefs where we won everything we could. In addition to that I spent three and a half wonderful years as manager of the Cameroonian national team, winning the African Cup of Nations and reaching third place in the World Cup 2022. Then I was offered the Dortmund job and, only 29 years old, I was manager of a European top team. And even though I needed some luck, I won my first big league title after just one year. I got my suitcase and took a taxi to the hotel. What surprises would the next year bring to the new manager of Real Madrid? FranceGames 2022 | Games 2023 I took over France after their 2nd Round out in the World Cup and we won our Nations League group with Spain and Holland with 10 points from 4 games. We also beat Uruguay and Belgium in the friendlies. The year 2023 didn't start so well though. In the first game of the Euro qualifiers we beat Bosnia & Herzegovina luckily 1-0 thanks to a last minute penalty goal. Then we embarrassed ourselves with a 0-2 defeat in Iceland before being hammered by England in the Nations League semi final. We should easily qualify for the EURO from our easy group. But we'll have some work to do before next summer. [b]CLUB CAREER Season Club Pos DC1 DC2 Cont Notes & Achievements[/b] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 CHN Renhe 11th QF n/a n/a Took over after 13 games in 16th 2015 CHN Renhe 2nd QF n/a n/a Chinese Manager of the Year 2016 CHN Renhe 1st Won n/a R2 Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup 2017 KOR Chunnam 2nd R4 n/a Won Won Asian Champions League 2018 KOR Jeonbuk 1st Won n/a Won Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup 19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 2nd Won QF n/a Won SA Cup 20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st Won R1 open Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League 21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs 1st R1 QF won Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st 21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd F n/a n/a Took over after 26 games in 9th 22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st F n/a EL won Won Bundesliga and Europa League [b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER Year Nation NL WC Cont. Conf. Notes & Achievements[/b] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 South Korea Joined 22.7.18 2019 South Korea QF Sacked 6.2.19 2019 Cameroon Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th 2020 Cameroon 2021 Cameroon Won Won African Cup of Nations 2022 Cameroon 3rd Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th 2023 France Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th Challenge Progress Club 4/10 top domestic leagues (China with Renhe, South Korea with Jeonbuk, South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs, Germany with Dortmund) 3/10 domestic cups (China with Renhe, South Korea with Jeonbuk, South Africa with Kaizer Chiefs) 2/5 club continental championships (Asia with Chunnam & Jeonbuk, Africa with Kaizer Chiefs) 0/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon) 0/2 world tournaments (Sorry for the long post, I thought I'd take the chance to update those of you who joined recently about my career so far. Good luck to everyone starting this! I really hope there will be no problems with this beta that make it impossible to finish the challenge.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted October 30, 2015 Share Posted October 30, 2015 FM 16 FC Haka Season Review 2016/17 League Table - 1st Finland has a really long post/pre season, 4 months in total, which I'm guessing is down to the winter months, we played 8 friendly games and a smattering of Finnish Cup games, not much success in either. Cobbled together what I thought was a more than capable squad, that was until two of my so called key signings both injured their cruciate ligaments within a game of each other and with no scope to sign anyone else I was left begging the Premier League sides for some young replacements, both from HJK who were pretty pivitol in our season. Our season was very up and down, regularly stuffing sides 4-1, 5-2, 4-0 whilst also going down to stupid single goal defeats, it was pretty much a two horse race all season between ourselves and JJK, we took 6 points off them and still couldn't gain any distance on them. The title went down to the final game and they were three points ahead, we managed to win a tricky game away at MP 3-2 whilst they lost at home to one of the also-rans KTP 2-1, despite KTP having 9 men for the final 20 minutes, crazy stuff! I seriously have my doubts over this team and their chances next year, not sure if I should take a stab at it with them or bail out to an established Premier League side. 2015/16 FC Haka 3rd Finnish First Division 2016/17 FC Haka 1st Finnish First Division Promoted to Premier League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Blackdevil - So have you taken over Panegialios (and I so had to cut and paste that) quite late in the season? Hope you guide them to smooth safety. I've never even heard of that team. I couldn't even find them in FM15, because their name is spelt differently. Are you happy with their kit colour? A Newcastle black and white striped thing. Probably best to not criticise that, but I kind of hope you decide to emulate your new club's rather homoerotic club badge and make them all play in the nude. That would at least have been a genuinely new feature for FM16. MIHC - Dortmund, my old club from the game. Mind you I've also managed Kaiser Chiefs and (in a my first ever abortive attempt at the challenge that I drearily bring up from time to time) Renhe. I should have managed Jeonbuk in S Korea. They offered me the job. I stayed at Seoul. They won the league. I was sacked. A 3-0 win in the Euro Cup final? Hmm, that sounds like a good plan. Good luck at Real Madrid. SuperGord - I didn't realise that Haka were in the second division down. (You did say. I didn't pay attention). Good luck in the top flight. Taking over fallen giants in the second division down, (and I'm including Dalian in this) seems to be a theme with FM16 starters. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Vikeologist's 2044/45 Newcastle and Brazil End of Season Report I finally won some silverware with Newcastle; the Euro Cup; a 3-0 victory against Man City. I still haven’t progressed in the challenge for forever, but winning it means that we’ll be in the group stage of the Champions league rather than the playoffs. For much of the first half of the season I thought we were in with a chance of winning the league, although checking now I realise that we were top of the table on just two brief occasions. The New Year brought injuries and losses to (at the time) key rivals Man Utd in the League Cup semi-final (where we threw away a big lead from the first leg), league and FA Cup. We set a new record for goals scored in the Premiership. I signed a young Brazilian who will soon be (if he’s not already) one of the best strikers in the world. Sucks for him that my Brazilian national team plays with no strikers, although he does usually come on as a sub. My 3 main strikers scored 105 goals just between the 3 of them. The problem is my defence. I’ve spent 37 million on 3 defenders in the last couple of seasons, and even they wouldn’t have the nerve to say it was money well spent, given the balance of performance against the fortune I’m paying each of them. I’ve made some cheaper signings in defence as well, but they’ve sucked as well. Hopefully I can offload some of my overpaid donkeys but their ages and wages will be a problem. Anyway, I go into next season, once again, believing that we are cast iron certainties to run away with the league. Our young players are developing well, and I’ll now have mo’ money to go with my mo’ problems. Arsenal and Man City (the latter of which has turned down more than one job application from me in this challenge) wanted me to replace their sacked managers, but I’m Newcastle till I die, (or win the league, but dying seems the more probable endpoint). Not much to report with Brazil. I managed the U23 side in the Olympics, where we lost in the final. We’re 2nd in the World Cup qualifying competition and will qualify for the World cup in a year comfortably. It is a very old squad, and it’s troubling that we’re not even the best in South America, never mind the world, but there wouldn’t be much point being the best at the moment anyway. We’re ranked 8th, and I suppose we need to ensure we’re seeded top at the world cup, but then it shouldn’t really matter who else is in our group anyway. I’ve already won the World Cup anyway. I just need to qualify for the Confederations Cup (which I’m going to be watching on TV in 2045). Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league 2024 Seoul / Brazil U23 3rd Won FA Cup 2nd domestic cup 2025 Cruz Azul 9th Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked. 3rd domestic cup 2026 Chivas 2nd Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final. 26/27 Chivas /Ivory Coast 6th/1st Won NACL. Lost Closing stage final of Mexican 1st Div (again) NACL 27 Chivas / Ivory Coast 5th Lost in Opening Stage semi-final and resigned after CWC Q/F 28 Dalian / Ivory Coast 11th Lost in FA Cup Final / Lost in 2029 ACON Q/F 29 Guangzhou / Egypt 1st League / Cup double. Qualified for World Cup 4th cup, 3rd league 30 Guangzhou/Egypt/USA 1st League / Champions League double Asian Champions League 31/2 Hertha Berlin 6th German Cup losing finalists. Qualified for UEFA Cup 32/33 Hertha Berlin/S Korea 6th UEFA Cup losing finalists. 33/34 HB/ SK/ Dortmund 6th Moved team after 12 games. Won East Asia Cup again, this time with Korea. 34/35 Dortmund / SK / Egypt 1st League and cup double. Quit South Korea after AC Q/F ignomy 5th cup, Bundesliga 35/36 Dortmund / Colombia 2nd German cup winners. 36/37 Barcelona / Colombia 2nd CL Q/F. Confederations Cup Finalists CWC 37/38 Barcelona / Holland 1st League, Cup, Champions league treble. World Cup with Holland. Euro Champions League, 6th cup, Spanish league. World Cup. 38/39 AC Milan / Holland 1st League and Italian Cup winners. 7th cup, Serie A 39/40 Holland n/a Won European Championship European Championship 40/41 Sochaux / South Africa 7th Took over Newcastle at end of season. 41/42 Newcastle/South Africa 5th FA Cup Semi-Finals. World Cup disaster. 42/43 Newcastle / Brazil 6th CO Cup Q/F, Euro Cup 2nd K/O Round 43/44 Newcastle / Brazil 7th FA Cup Finalists 44/45 Newcastle / Brazil 4th Euro Cup winners Challenge Progress Club 6/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, S Korea, China, Germany, Spain, Italy) 7/10 domestic cups (South Africa, S Korea, Mexico, China, Germany, Spain, Italy) 4/5 club continental championships (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe) 1/1 club world championship International 1/5 continental tournaments (European Championship) 1/2 world tournaments (World Cup) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I was wondering if I was the only one that likes to map out his career path. I barely started my second season and am allready thinking of where I want to manage my 2nd, 3th and even 4th team. I realise these plans won't survive past the first job offer, but still it's nice to plan ahead. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 Definitely have always had at least a vague plan. Doesn't always work out. Planned to finish in Europe, but after China I just felt like making the move. After England and France, which I still plan to next, I'm hoping I can get the Libertadores in Argentina, and then have my choice of nation for the tenth and final one. I've considered Australia, Wales, Scotland and (if I don't need the tenth cup) dealing with unfinished business in Mexico. The complicating factor is though that often you want a specific club. There's many people have waited in vain for the managers of Bayern and PSG to leave. Funnily enough, when I first started this challenge, the job I wanted was Dalian, who were then a top division team, but they turned me down. Years later, they came crawling to me, and I left them before I won anything with them. Led them hand in hand to the bedroom, dimmed the lighting, loosened their tie. Then Guangzhou rang and I left them hanging. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeedsUnitedForLife Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 need a good league sertup? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 europe is last on my list too. At least the 5 big countries. Might go for turkey and holland before that. Am really loving my stay at Dalian so far. They have such a good setup. I don't know how they managed to slip so far but I am greatfull. Don't think I could have started at a better club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 I was thinking that with the new thread we could have side challenges. We used to have a 'Sacking Challenge' to celebrate those of us who do not always meet with success in our ventures. That sort of died a death once it became clear that Normandy Wept had set a record that would never be equalled. NW - How many times have you been sacked (or resigned in order to avoid being sacked)? By my count it's 10, but maybe you jumped before you jumped before you were pushed internationally more than I realise. Actually, I'm on 10 as well; most of those international. Plus Colombia really, really should have sacked me. I feel a wave of guilt engulfing me every time Brazil play them. Maybe we could also have a Cunning Linguist Challenge, which may be easier now than managers can do intensive language courses. (At least I think they can). I think that my manager can speak at least 6 different languages fluently now, but I don't have the game loaded. Does anybody have 7 fluencies or more? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Can't seem to go on a course to learn chinese. Just checked. If you do the linguist one it might be fair to note how many languages you start with that are fluent. For example I'm dutch and according to the game that means i'm fluent in three languages allready. Others might start with only one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Blackdevil - So have you taken over Panegialios Yea, in game they are listed as "GS Panaigialeios" and the main thing with kit colour is the ease it is to see the commentry which white on black is. The first game I had a bit of a fright as we didn't appear in our black and white kit, at first I thought it was their beach attire but it turns out it was the second all white kit we were using. I have shouted at the players at times demanding they emulate past sporting hero's...maybe I'll have to change what I'm saying to avoid any arrests for indecent scenes. I joined the club in March with 9 games to go. I did finish the season last night but the game crashed so I was left with my save from after my first game. It's a bit disappointing but thankfully not too many games to make up and I'm now 5 games from the finish (and saving regularly )so hopefully a proper update later today. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormandyWept Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 NW - How many times have you been sacked (or resigned in order to avoid being sacked)? By my count it's 10, but maybe you jumped before you jumped before you were pushed internationally more than I realise. I was sacked by Ajax CT, Wanderers, Dempo, Pohang, Jeonbuk, Monaco, Inter, Lazio and Valencia at club level, also resigning from Roma before they would surely have sacked me, so ten. At international level I left Norway and Tunisia more because I couldn't achieve things with them, and Spain to move to Brazil, but I was once sacked by Brazil (before later returning successfully). Therefore it's 10 club sackings and 1 international, for 11 in total. Beat that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I almost feel as if I'm missing out when you "boast" about the number of sackings That's more sackings than I've had in the Championship\Football Manager series. Thinking about it though, I've rarely done a save that spanned that many years and encompassed many teams. I've usually done a couple of seasons and then moved to a new save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormandyWept Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 I almost feel as if I'm missing out when you "boast" about the number of sackings That's more sackings than I've had in the Championship\Football Manager series.Thinking about it though, I've rarely done a save that spanned that many years and encompassed many teams. I've usually done a couple of seasons and then moved to a new save. Yeah exactly, you have to move a lot in this challenge and sometimes you end somewhere you can't turn around or that doesn't fit you well, inevitably. Eleven sackings is still a lot, but it's quite realistic really for a manager with this long a career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted October 31, 2015 Share Posted October 31, 2015 Season 2015/16: GS Panaigialeios Appointed on the 24/03/2016 with nine games to go until the end of the season it gave plenty of time to turn around the clubs fortunes particularly with the how close the point difference was. They'd been on a slump for the first two months of 2016 and hadn't won in ten games, although only four of those were defeats, before my appointment in they were in 15th place and in the relegation zone with the bottom four teams to go down. The first game came just three days after my appointment against one of the promotion chasing teams. With little time to do anything I resorted to my "default" "4-1-2-3 DM wide" system that has served me so well over the years. The lads responded to my passioned plea to do something decent and defended resolutely throughout the game. Wave after wave of attack was repelled with the occasional foray forward from ourselves. It was on one of those time wasting runs forward down the left in the 85th min we won a free-kick after our forward was brutally assaulted (or tripped if you will) and we were awarded a free-kick. Out on the left flank, 40 yards from goal, the Brazillian fella I'd just sent on a few mins earlier stepped up to take it. I watched filled wth optimism as surely if anyone can take a free-kick it's a Brazillian...although at our level it's the same as anyone else. He hoofed it high into the box and some Greek guy who I won't insult by trying to pronounce his name rose high out of the crowd like a boss in an MMO and powered in a header. The stadium fell silent bar the sounds of my team clapping him on the back and my ferocious roar from the sideline. Thankfully the lads were able to concentrate and saw out the game to give my reign a 1-0 winning start. With the morale of the players lifted we went on to win six of our final nine games, drawing once and loosing twice. On a personal note I'd been turned down for vacant posts at Trikala and Zakynthos prior to being appointed manager of Panaigialeios and I had wry smile at their final league finishes. I'm not bitter, honest! Challenge Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues () 0/10 domestic cups () 0/5 club continental championships () 0/1 club world championship () International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Seasons: CLUB CAREER Leagues Cups Season NAT Club 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Cont. CWC Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2015/16 GRE Panaigialeios 8th Last 9 games INTERNATIONAL CAREER Rank Cups Year Nation FIFA NL World Cont. Conf. Other & Notes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karax268 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 I'm taking my first steps in international management. Have agreed to manage the olympic squad of ivory coast Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysdailydose Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 An American Werewolf in Football! http://AmericanWerewolfFootball.wordpress.comStevenage F.C. - 2019-20All Competitions | Profile One | Profile Two The hard work is really beginning to show through, and the 2019/20 season will be looked at as the year our club turned the corner and really began to establish itself in the English game. The Boro won the Sky Bet Championship by a comfortable margin, with our lads having the league clinched with four fixtures to play, and scoring over a century of goals for the first time in club history. We also made another cup final, this time the Capital One Cup, but again we were found wanting in a cup final -- this time by Jurgen Klopp and his dominant Chelsea side. Obviously, the biggest takeaway is that we have made it to the Promised Land of the Barclay's Premier League, and the financial bonanza that it entails! We were led to glory by the leading scorer in the Championship in the young Dutch wonderkid Ed Smits (on loan from Man United), whose 32 goals led the Championship -- and Championship Player of the Year Michael Folivi (on loan from Watford), who had 25 goals and 13 made in the league with an league-leading average rating of 7.72, which was a Sky Bet Championship record. We also wouldn't have done it without our Supporters Player of the Year, Andreas Pereira. Pereira scored 12 goals, but his 19 assists led the Championship, and his 7.63 average rating in the league would have most likely secured him Player of the Year in most seasons. They don't get a ton of credit, but I wanted to take a moment and give some recognition to my main back five for this season. Goalkeeper George Long was absolutely crucial in a lot of games, and left-back Kyle Walker-Peters, center-halfs Domingo Mateos and Coll Donaldson, and right-back Norman Webb (on loan from Arsenal) were absolutely fantastic all season, helping push us to an amazing +63 goal-differential. Our meteoric rise has also shown my manager to advance a lot on a personal level, as he was awarded with his first Manager of the Year award, and is now viewed as a club legend at Stevenage FC! I also completed the last of my coaching badges this season, and with the league win and strong cup showing, my reputation is now Continental. Our club is now valued at £105M with only £3.7M in net debt, which is nearly all from the upgrades to bring Broadhall Way up to the required standard of the top flight. Staying with my club philosophy, we did make a major player sale in the offseason, as we had a side ready to meet Kyle Walker-Peters £13.5M release clause. He was only valued as a £5M player at the time of his sale, and the deal had a clause guaranteeing us 25% of his next sale, so it was a very good deal for the club, and would have been accepted -- release clause or not. I was able to bring in what I feel is a capable replacement in young Dutchman Theo Huisman, who was transfer listed by PSG, for a very fair price of £1.9M. We also purchased long-time loanees Harry Donovan and Michael Folivi with a bit of our newfound bounty. I felt the deal for Folivi was an extremely good one as strikers are nearly always overvalued, and we got him for less than his value after a season like the one he had. Folivi is touted in the media as the next Wayne Rooney, and if he delivers on that promise, we are sure to be able to consolidate in the Premier League. We were also able to keep Smits on loan for at least one more season, as one of our two allowed domestic loan deals. Those two leading our line give me a lot of hope for our first campaign in the big show -- and indeed, we have started the new campaign top of the table after 3 matches, with 7 points taken from our first three fixtures. We did crash out of the Capital One Cup at the first time of asking -- but that is for next season's update. For now, we hope you will wish us luck in the Premier League, and we thank you as always for following American Werewolf Football! Progress Club 0/10 top domestic leagues 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments [b]Club Career:[size=2] [i]2015-16: England - Sky Bet League Two - Stevenage FC:[/i] Above mid-table finish was expected, we crashed out in the Playoff Semi-Final to miss promotion. [i]2016-17: England - Sky Bet League Two - Stevenage FC:[/i] Expected to win title, won League Two with record point total of 104. Promoted. JPT Finalist, great cup performances. [i]2017-18: England - Sky Bet League One - Stevenage FC:[/i] Initial expectation of Playoffs, won League One Title with five fixtures remaining. JPT Finalist 2nd straight season. [i]2018-19: England - Sky Bet Championship - Stevenage FC:[/i] Above mid-table expected, finished 4th position and lost in extra-time of Championship Play-off Final to miss promotion. [i]2019-20: England - Sky Bet Championship - Stevenage FC:[/i] Expected to challenge for the title, won title with four fixtures remaining. Capital One Cup Finalist.[/b][/size] [b]International Career:[size=2] [i]2015-Present:[/i] Unemployed internationally. [/b] [/size] [b]Minor Trophies:[size=2] [i]Sky Bet Championship (2019/20), Sky Bet League 1 (2017/18), Sky Bet League 2 (2016/17) [/i] [/b] [/size] [b]Personal Accolades:[size=2] [i]Sky Bet Championship Manager of the Year (2019/20) [/i] [/b] [/size] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 vikeologist - You're gonna win that Premier League title sooner or later! blackdevil - Sounds like a promising start, thoughts on next season,they good enough to go up or on the lookout for a bigger club? jaysdailydose - That is one hell of a rise with Stevenage! Sticking with them all the way or hoping for a bigger club to poach you? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 jaysdailydose - Congrats on the promotion Jay and good luck for the new season. Super_Gord - I don't know is the short answer but I'm going to stay until the end of my contract which is the end of this season. With 3 league games of the new season gone I'm hopeful of getting promoted as champions. I'll be disappointed if we don't. I'm undecided if I want to build this club up or do a club crawl Will have to evaluate at the end of the season, but the club is over 300k in debt with no players of any value to sell that'd make a dent in the debt. And the board want me to sell some players to help with it....but who? It'd only bring 22k in at most and the squad isn't big enough to loose too many players. I can't even do any coaching badges so might have to stay as it'll be difficult to get anything much better anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super_Gord Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 FM 16 FC Haka Season Review 2017/18 League Table - 1st I was toying with leaving the club during the post season, FC Inter Turku a more established Premier League side offered me their manager's job, I was actually at the contract discussion stage when I thought I'm going to have a crack with Haka, glad I did. The board announced that we were going full time and that the scouting range had been increased to cover all of Europe, this was a major factor in our success, it allowed me to bring in a few youth loanees from Premier League clubs in England and some experienced players from Denmark and Bulgaria. We lost our key striker halfway through the season as he had a minimum fee release clause in his contract which I totally overlooked, he went off to Hearts in Scotland for a pittance Took a while for us to find our feet, we skirted with the bottom two after 6 games and then we went rampant, an 11 game unbeaten run including 9 wins propelled us to the top, IFK Mariehamn ran us close but we managed to hold them off and take the title with a game to spare. We also managed to make it to the Finnish Cup final, sadly losing 1-0 in extra time to FC Lahti, the double was not to be. Despite qualifying for some round of the Champions League it's time for me to depart Finland for a new challenge, probably going to remove some of the weaker nations (Belarus, Bulgaria) and try for a new club in Poland or Austria, if anyone will have me! 2015/16 FC Haka 3rd Finnish First Division 2016/17 FC Haka 1st Finnish First Division Promoted to Premier League 2017/18 FC Haka 1st Finnish Premier League League Winners Challenge Progress Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (Finland) 0/10 domestic cups 0/5 club continental championships 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackdevil Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 Congrats on getting your first Challenge trophy on the board. Shame about the cup. Oooh, my clubs owner is looking to step aside...fingers crossed for a decent outcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaysdailydose Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 jaysdailydose - That is one hell of a rise with Stevenage! Sticking with them all the way or hoping for a bigger club to poach you? Thanks very much, I have to be honest and say that this is undoubtedly my favorite save in my entire time playing Football Manager! I think there are maybe 3-4 clubs where I would realistically consider jumping ship at this point, if they became available. I only have England, Mexico, South Korea, and South Africa loaded as we speak, but I may add one our two other of the "big" European nations in to give myself more options now that my reputation has improved. In England, I'd only consider moving to Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, or United. It has to be a situation where I'll immediately begin to fight for multiple trophies or I'm going to stick with them all the way. I still have work to do to get this squad seriously thinking about a Champions League place -- I'm just waiting for the financial situation to stabilize as I get the TV money in. The last time I had really looked things over club wide last season was probably around February and the club was worth £8.5M -- now its worth £105M. That I have become a club legend will definitely make it harder to leave unless I've accomplished what I need to in England, but I won't rule anything out. I don't really see any of those 4 jobs opening up, anyway -- Klopp has been amazing at Chelsea, Arsenal has Unai Emery and he's done OK since he came in. Roy Keane is at United and won them the Champions League in 2019 so he's fairly secure as well. Liverpool really came on after hiring Argentinian Ramon Diaz last season... they were languishing below mid-table when he came in and he got them to a CL place... I just don't see any real benefit to leaving unless things really go South, as I think I'll be on the financial level of the other clubs soon enough. Thanks for following! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 A bug report in the South Africa section reminds me that when I started the game; not only did I escape the 'challenge-killer' which actually only appeared in the 15.2 update, but there was also a bug in South Africa (where I started) that was hugely advantageous. I think when I signed players on trial, they could play for my first team. I figured this was just a quirk of South Africa, and I'm all for people working for me without pay. They were like interns; apart from the fact that I didn't sleep with them. Once I realised that it actually was a bug (which to be fair to me happened because I reported it) I'd already gained from it quite a bit. Have the FM16 players found any bugs affecting their games at all? (either positively or negatively). I used to post warnings that it wasn't a good idea to start this challenge on a beta, but so far the beta seems quite solid. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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