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Wild Cards: This Time For Africa (A Youth Only Challenge in South Africa)

Chantu9Y

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Chantu9Y

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For the past few months I have been playing FM17 Touch and experimenting with different kinds of saves. I have struggled to find a save that I enjoyed since I last played with Arsenal (FM16, went 12 straight seasons of Premier League and Champions League wins, utterly ridiculous). I have tried several youth only saves, as well as managing in obscure leagues, in order to create a proper challenge, but to no avail. My last save was a Scandinavian Youth Challenge in Denmark but after it crashed last night  I lost the drive to continue. I have been reading several threads, including those written by @dafuge and @Jimbokav1971, and have gained new insight on how I wish to create tactics/develop players in order to dive into my next challenge. I wish to do a youth only challenge but I am still drawn to the lesser-known leagues and lower management. I find it difficult to find a nation that I wish to play in, as I feel many have done been done before, and it is beginning to lack in diversity. This morning, I decided to investigate further to determine which nation I wished to manage in Europe. However, as I began to look more closely, I found myself drawn to a nation I have never managed in before. I have managed in Europe, South America, and North America, but I have yet to go beyond my comfort zone. This led me to looking at South Africa. There are few African threads currently running let alone a Youth Challenge in this region. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Africa has a rich history of creating unbelievable youth talent, but have lacked the management to carry it over on the international senior level. My aim is this: I will holiday for a season before choosing one of the promoted teams to the South African lower division. I will then build up the club from nothing, using only the youth created through my Academy. We will continue to progress and hopefully:

-Gain promotion to the Premier Division

-Win the league

- Win the Continental championships

- Win the FIFA Club World Championships (no African team had done so)

I hope to one day manage the South African national team, using my club as a feeder for International success, and one day win a world cup with South Africa (no African team had gone past the quarterfinals). Along the way, I hope to produce quality, world-class Talent within my Academy, and maybe even a balloon D'Or winner (only one African has done so). This is an ambitious, long-term save, and one that will focus exclusively on creating national team Talent within a lower team side. I am excited at the prospect of this challenge and will hopefully be able to grow in my knowledge of tactics and Youth Development with limited resources available. I have holidayed for a year and I believe I have found a team that perfectly suits what it is I hope to accomplish. More to follow in the next update...

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Alexandra Black Aces FC Season 17/18

Club History.   Club Profile   Facilities.  

Expectations.  Finances.  Tactics

Squad1.  Squad2.   Staff

Can we just start off with acknowledging that the name is phenomenal? So after reloading several times, I found this gem being promoted up to the first division of South African football. Besides the cool name, this team was recently founded this past year. It took me a while to find them online and research them a little bit, as they are fairly new. After looking at the squad, in fact, it seems that almost all the players are newgens, which makes this save that much more interesting from the jump. The club history is posted here, or what little of it is currently available. The finances seemed surprisingly good for a club this size in this division. The facilities themselves are extremely disappointing. I was hoping that with this being a new club they would have invested some in facilities and their youth, however it appears that all of these things are at the bare minimum. There's a lot of work to do here, but thankfully we have plenty of time, as the board's expectations seem to be merely avoiding relegation and not embarrassing ourselves in the cup. The squad size seems fairly decent, although we will need more Defenders and Central midfielders in the future. As of right now, injuries or suspensions could definitely have a strong impact on our form, due to the lack of numbers and quality depth in the squad. We do have a few standout players to begin with, and I will post their profiles in later posts. I think I will start off with an attacking 4-4-2 formation, as it seems that will best suit the player positions we currently have. I will be using our brief preseason to tinker with player positions and tactics as we move into the beginning of the year. With past saves, I always seem to start off really well before the AI figured me out and we hit a slump near the mid-season. I am hoping that by following other threads and picking the brains of those mentioned above, I will be able to successfully avoid these issues this time. My back room was completely empty, so my first order of business was to hire an entirely new staff. By the end of the week it appears, that we have successfully developed one of the better back rooms in this division. I figure if we are not going to spend the money on players, we need to begin by investing in those who will be guiding our youth. I will be updating following our preseason with players to watch and hopefully a good grasp of what tactics I hope to utilize this season. Any advice will be considered and appreciated. Until the next update...

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1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

Good luck!

Besides the youth, there are some good quality players there, surprisingly so. I find it a handy league to load and raid for cheap quality if I'm in a country where work permits won't be an issue.

 thank you! I am hoping that we can develop a world class Academy in which we can develop players that top European clubs will fight over. The talent and quality is definitely there, we just need to be able to focus it!

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1 hour ago, Jupjamie said:

This is definitely worth following. Good luck! 

Much appreciated! I hope the save is successful and you enjoy my future posts as well. Feel free to comment on anything you like or suggestions for improvement :)

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Excellent stuff. Followed.

Are you still playing on Touch? If so, how have youth intakes been in your other saves? I've only played full fat in 17, but recall that intakes were very small in prior touch/classic modes...all but precluding a youth academy only save.

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1 hour ago, ManUtd1 said:

Excellent stuff. Followed.

Are you still playing on Touch? If so, how have youth intakes been in your other saves? I've only played full fat in 17, but recall that intakes were very small in prior touch/classic modes...all but precluding a youth academy only save.

I am still currently playing on Touch as I travel/work a lot and enjoy the portability and a slimmed down version. I get the benefits of the detail and challenge of the full without being overloaded. A down side of course, as you mentioned, is the small intake size. I will usually get between 3-5 depending on the size of my current squad, however the quality is usually better. I've found that with the full version I get a large intake with about 3-4 true quality players that might reach their potential and play for me, while with the touch I've been able to integrate more of my intake and quicker. The problem becomes if you start off poorly and people jump ship before replacements can be found :( ...

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Fair points.  I've enjoyed a handful of saves on Touch/Classic in the past 2 years or so, but always come back to full fat notwithstanding real-life demands (work, kids, etc).  Maybe I need to give it another whirl this year...but not yet, as I'm having way too much fun in my save :D

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I had a youth only save in Bulgaria last year, but had to give up after a few seasons as the board kept selling my players and at points I couldn't even fill the bench if I included youth team players.

The bigger problem with touch though, in my opinion is the AI arranging tutoring. Ruins players more often than not.

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17/18 Preseason Update:

Match Results   Potential Problem

So we begin the preseason with a 442 attacking formation and wound up finishing with the same, as we secured some solid results. When looking at the results, it would seem that we were unsuccessful, however, out of all of our opponents only one of them was not a premier league side! That is impressive in and of itself, in my opinion, and hopefully a good sign for us going into the season. One negative that popped up was that our best defender seems to have a problem managing his personal life. Rather than show up to practices and games, he would rather party all night and spend his times in the clubs. I immediately disciplined him for these actions, as I refuse to have a team that is built on poor character.  As I've noticed in several threads, player personality can have a serious impact on the quality of players you will produce in the long run. While players coming out of the academy can start off with professional attitudes, they can quickly start to fall off if those around them do not follow suit. Therefore, one of my goals in this save is to ensure that the character within my squad is a high one. As I promised before, here are some of my better players and their profiles:

Rob Makeche

Themba Tshabalala

Alessandro Vendetti

Themba Majoro

Yusuf Ngwenya

Rendani Ndiovu

Of these six, Alessandro and Rendani look to be a real class act. They both seem to have quite a bit of potential for this division and can grow to be Key pieces that we build our squad around. I hope to update if anything important pops up during the beginning part of the year and will update fully at midseason.  If I run into any issues, I will make sure to post, but hopefully only good news when next heard from. I hope you are as excited about the start of this save as I am! Until the next update… 

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14 minutes ago, BoxToBox said:

I had a youth only save in Bulgaria last year, but had to give up after a few seasons as the board kept selling my players and at points I couldn't even fill the bench if I included youth team players.

The bigger problem with touch though, in my opinion is the AI arranging tutoring. Ruins players more often than not.

Completely agree. I think it's silly that I cannot assign their tutors. Oh well, guess it makes it more of a challenge lol. All the more reason to have a quality back room staff, facilities, and squad personality!

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17/18 Midseason Update:

Transfers   First U21 International    Cup Run   Finances   Tactics2    Tactics3   Results

Items to note prior to the season update: - as you can see there's been no transfers in, as this is youth academy only. The transfers out were done prior to my arrival (which stinks because two of them could've easily been starters). Although there were a lot of teams scrambling to get Vendetti (CM) on loan, I denied them all, as he is far and away our brightest talent, especially for this level.

- Another item of note was that Makeche (GK), our starting goalie, earned his first international call up! He was top notch for us so far and it was well earned. He is our first and only international, and while he is both Zambian and South African, he chose to play for the Zambian U21s, which makes sense as he has a better chance of being called up to the full squad later in his career.

- We lost our best central defender (best overall, as he is talented and can play all defensive positions) for several months with a hamstring tear. I'm hoping he'll be back by the end of the season to get us over the hump. We're all hands on deck at this point defensively.

- We are a financial mess at this point and just hemorrhaging money. We need some Premier league money. Or billionaire takeover. Now.

Now, on to the season! We started off at a strong pace, winning and drawing a majority of our games. We seemed to really step it up against the top squads before losing to the mediocre teams in the league, which is impeding us from really competing for the top spots of promotion. We were bounced out of the SA Cup at the first time of asking, which I expected. Almost happy about that, to be honest, as we can focus more on the league. I found that I needed to adjust my tactics early on as my opponents really like to play with 5 men across the middle of the park or play a 4-2-3-1 with two DMs and three AMCs. This was partially successful as I would scrape out 1-0 wins instead of flat out losing. I do feel there's a lot of room for improvement tactically. As I said before, this is a weakness for me at this point of the season and I'm close to a playoff spot. I'd love to make a push even if I don't ultimately succeed this season. Feel free to take a look at my set ups for any advice! Overall I'm definitely pleased, with us currently sitting in 6th, two points behind a playoff spot :). I'll continue to post updates for the second half of the season and let me know if you have any advice. Until the next update...

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17/18 Season Update:

2018 African Cup of Nations   Contract Renewal     Tactical Struggles

I am 8 games into the new year and here are three items to note:

- The 2018 African Cup of Nations was hosted by Kenya and won by....South Africa! Our nation has a lot of potential and this shows that we can become an African powerhouse for the future.

- I received a contract renewal following our tremendous progress within the league. I'm excited that our board continues to place their trust in me.

- I bet they regret that decision. As predicted, after the mid season we hit our slump. Bad. We have currently set a club record with seven games without a win. I've tried my best to adjust my tactics but nothing seems to be working. I can't score for the life of me and we are losing the possession battle. It's not like we're getting blown out, but they keep scraping 1-0 wins against us :(. This seems to be a common occurrence with my saves and I don't know how to break out of this funk. Any ideas or comments, feel free to throw them out there.

 

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Alexandra Black Aces FC Season Review 17/18

All right, there's a lot to take in here folks, so sit down and grab the popcorn. I'll try to be as concise as possible as I'm not trying to bog you down with the minute details. Remember, this is a long term youth save, so the focus is really on the individual players and team growth rather than trophy count (which is great because we're terrible at the moment). First things first:
- Kaiser Chiefs won both the FA Cup and Premier league, Golden Arrows won the First division
- Our top scorer was Abram Mingas with a whopping 8 :thdn: and main assist man was Yusuf Ngwenya with 6.
- Our most improved player was Alessandro Vendetti (more on him later), who blossomed into a force in our midfield. He would've led us in assists if we had anyone to finish them off and even earned himself a call-up to the U-21 SA side!
- Our finances are a joke. Thankfully the board found some money to invest in basic youth recruitment and junior coaching but at this rate, we'll probably implode before we see any youth come through :seagull:. 
- The fans voted William Tshungu our FPotS and YPotS. Despite losing a large chunk of time with a torn hamstring, he was our best defender and a versatile player.
- Overall, the media/fans/board were very happy with our standing at the years end. Which brings me to our fixture results...
-WTF?!?!?!?! Take a look at our results, the second page in particular. No, your not misreading that. That ridiculous page of red and oranges is in fact correct. Those TWO greens, yeah that really happened. How we went the entire second half of the year with only two wins and survived is beyond me. I'm furious at this. I have no clue what the heck were doing on the pitch but my tactics are clearly not working :mad:.
we managed to survive and claim 11th but I'm far from pleased at this.
 
Here are my players of the year, or my Wild Cards:
GK: Rob Makeche- our rock between the sticks. He is definitely one for the future as he made key saves throughout the year to keep us in games. Could frustrate at times, showing his youth, but I hope he breaks into the Zambian national team one day.
DEF: William Tshungu- the fans player of the year. This guy can play across the back line and was our most consistent defender. Shame he was hurt for so long but quality when he returned.
MD: Alessandro Vendetti - as mentioned before, he was a real force for us in the midfield and our best player in terms of CA and PA. He was rated by our scouts to be a good Premier league midfielder and it came as no surprise that we could not match his ambitions. Unfortunately, he refused our offers for extensions during the year and ultimately left on a free. Gutted. We built our team tactics on him and this will change everything going forward. Wish we could've at least profited off of it.
FWD: Abram Mingas- apparently 8 goals gets you a place on this list as our top scorer, so pat yourself on the back, young Abram, as you're  the cream of the mediocre crop. I have nothing more to say about that.
 
The Good: We survived our first year and live to fight another season 
The Bad: We can't score and are slow at the back. The second half collapse is unacceptable 
The Ugly: Good Lord, can I get a takeover?! There's got to be a oil baron or diamond tycoon somewhere in this nation!
 
Goals for next season: 
- top 10 finish
- good youth intake
- develop my strikers more
- improve my tactics (want to really develop two good ones I can switch between)
- better FA cup run
 
Ill update following the youth intake. I have a nice idea planned to make the anticipation more fun :D. Until the next update...
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1 hour ago, BoxToBox said:

That second half to the season was crazy.

Right? It was just a flood of poor results. I need to find a way to change our fortunes, as we can definitely compete in this division :(

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So with this being a youth academy save, I figured I'd like to place some importance upon the youth intake each year and the anticipation for it. I'll break it down into three parts: the needs list, a look at Africa's past (what we hope to produce within our academy), and finally the intake. So without further ado...

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2018 Youth Needs:

GK: We have a great prospect in first team keeper Makeche. He is backed up by youth prospect Tshepo Ndlovu. Ndlovu doesn't look to be anything special, so a better academy prospect wouldn't hurt to create competition for the backup spot.

DEF: This is a spot that needs attention. This season, we had to play our DM as a DC and LB due to injuries to our starters. We currently have 3 DCs but could definitely use a left and right back from our academy to use as defensive cover, as we only have one of each.

MID: This is interesting because without Vendetti we will be changing our current formation. We have plenty of wingers but only have two CMs, one ACM, and a DM. I'm thinking of doing a 4-4-2 diamond and 4-4-1-1next season so I wouldn't be opposed to another ACM or DM this intake, but really any CM would be appreciated at this point to fill the void left by Alessandro.

FW: We have plenty. They just can't hit the side of a barn. Maybe one good one, but at this point it's not a glaring need. I need quality, not quantity.

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2018 African Spotlight (Look to the Past, to Build a Better Future):

This year, in honor of our terrible goal scoring record, we will look at one of Africa's greatest forwards-

rabah-madjer_50827_wide.jpg

Rabah Madjer

Many young football fans won’t recognize the name Rabah Madjer. The Algerian fotball legend played from 1975 to 1992. He played for FC Porto, where he won three Portuguese League titles and one Champions League trophy. He won 9 major titles in 6 years with them. One of the most prolific Algerian internationals in number of games and goals, Madjer played in two World Cups with his national team, helping it to its first ever participation in 1982. Madjer was crowned as the best Algerian footballer in the 20th century. 

Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1975–1983 NAHD / MAHD 94 (58)
1983–1984 Racing Paris 50 (23)
1985 → Tours (loan) 7 (2)
1985–1991 Porto 108 (50)
1988 → Valencia (loan) 14 (4)
1991–1992 Qatar SC 9 (6)
Total   282 (143)
 
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3 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

Looking forward to your section on the Zaire 1974 World Cup team...

 :hammer:

(I kid, but I own that jersey...my daughter is from Kinshasa :thup:)

lol I will be doing team reviews at one point, just you wait...

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2018 Youth Intake:

What this save is all about. Here is my 2018 youth intake ! 

On 12/8/2016 at 17:38, ManUtd1 said:

Excellent stuff. Followed.

Are you still playing on Touch? If so, how have youth intakes been in your other saves? I've only played full fat in 17, but recall that intakes were very small in prior touch/classic modes...all but precluding a youth academy only save.

@ManUtd1 I know we had discussed intake size, this is by far my biggest intake, total of 7 youth prospects. Those who are top prospects are linked to view their profiles:

Name/CA/PA

GK Thapiso Sangweni / 0* / 3*

DR Nkululeko Tau / 0* / 1.5*

DL Edward Msomi  / 1.5* / 5*

ML Lebogang Mpengesi /2.5 / 5*

AMC Tshwarelo Masango/2*/5*

ST Rendani Sibiya / 0* / 2*

ST Japhet Zwane / 2.5* / 5*

ST Tsepo Mathebula /0* / 3*

Overall, I'm happy with the crew, as it addressed several areas of need. I hope to bleed several of them into the team through rotation next season. Until next update...

 

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:( and thus ends a dream... didn't even last through the second season. After accumulating only 3 wins out of 20 games, I was sacked. I'm really bummed about this save, as it had so much promise. I'm really struggling to figure out this years version. I haven't struggled this badly since I started playing with FM09. I can't seem to adjust once the AI figures my tactics and am getting manhandled. I really wanted this one to work out but now I'm off to find a different youth challenge. Send any suggestions if you've got them :idiot:

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Sigh, couldn't do it. As I stared at the start screen, I couldn't bring myself to start another challenge. No other region seems to be calling me. I feel like there's unfinished business here, and this is an itch I gotta scratch. Call me crazy but I'm reloading... :D

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On 12/13/2016 at 20:45, ManUtd1 said:

Haha...I've been there. Maybe in a different country? I've thought for years about a youth only save with TP Mazembe, the goal being to win the club world cup.

Yeah, I was pretty bummed out about it but I still feel motivated to conquer this challenge. Since all the Same clubs coming up are professional, I really want to complete this with a club with minimal resources. I have reloaded quite a few times but was able to get the Black Aces up again :D... I'll be updating once the initial season is complete!

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So bear with me as I need to get this off my chest. Since last posting, I have attempted no less than four tries with the Black Aces. They are absolutely frustrating. Every reload provided me with pretty much the same incompetant players and mishandled tactics. Each attempt seemed to end with me being run out of town and winding up curled up beside a jukebox at the nearest dive bar crying away my sorrows to Celine Dions "My Heart Will Go On". Like the masochist that I am, I kept going back, thinking that maybe this time things would be different; I could change, I could be better :(... Then I watched three consecutive matches where my goalie scored more goals than our entire team combined... against us :seagull:. I kid you not, this chump literally punched and side stepped 4 goals against his own team. I considered reporting possible match fixing to the African FA but decided to take the higher ground and chose to let loose a pack of wild hyena into his home.latest?cb=20100429002844

No regrets at all.

Upon my 73527484826 reload, something really cool came up. I hadn't seen this team previously and their name seemed cool. Upon researching further, I was sold...

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MpTCrtHI.jpg

Team Name:TS Galaxy F.C

Nickname: The Rockets

Club History

TS Galaxy Football Club is a professional football club which is under the leadership of Tim Sukazi, the renowned thought leader in the football talent management business. We are a Club that thrives on football talent identification and development at community level. In essence, we are a community based club whose focus is to unearth football stars among all the communities which form part of our base. As our motto says, our drive is to ‘achieve unlimited altitude’ with and for our people!

Main Objective

Our aim as TS Galaxy Football Club is to promote the unknown talent for the development of South African football and we hope to do so as a football club and also through the platform of our sister company QT Sports.

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TS Galaxy Season Review 17/18

As I sit by myself, crying alone in this dive bar in the middle of nowhere South Africa, I put another quarter in the jukebox, I pour myself another glass of Jack Daniels, and reminisce.

After numerous ill-fated saves with Alexandra Black Aces, I had landed the great spot with the TS Galaxy. They had no fan base to speak of, but they had below-average training and youth facilities. The stadium capacity was 10K and we had a board behind us that was all about improving through our youth. The trophy cabinet was as barren as it gets,  but I plan on changing that. Looking at the Squad, we had a decent number of impressive youth. Our Midfield seemed especially promising and we had a young forward by the name of Sakhile Hlongwa, who looked to be one of the future stars of SA. All in all, I was very pleased with the setup. Because of the players at my disposal, I was able to employ my favorite tactic, a 4-2-3-1 fluid formation based loosely upon my Arsenal team. Because this was a youth save, I of course did not bring in any athletes during my employment. My preseason and first few games was focused mainly on figuring out my team and their potential. And my word, what potential there was. We came out the gates with a few wins but more draws, however Sakhile was on absolute fire in nine games, scoring 10 goals. This of course brought about the attention of the Egyptian League, who have dominated the African cups. After much ballyhooing and temper tantrums, I had to sell him to enppi, an Egyptian Club. Luckily we were able to sell him for 150k, 5 times more than his value. However, then the team was not pleased with this and wondered where the goals were going to come from. After a lengthy talk with the team I explained to them that the goals would come from everyone. Everyone was expected to contribute if we were to become a successful team. And if they were not willing to contribute, there was a pack of hungry hyenas on the other side of the door. Just kidding, of course. Or was I?:idiot: (Side note: the lad wound up playing 6 games for them and only one goal to his name. Really wish he chose to stay and develop under me, but what can you do)

This save has been different for me, as I have tried to read up on tactics and formations to better understand my mistakes previously. As you may remember, I tend to struggle around the mid-year where my teams windup in an epic collapse. This year however, was different. As we continued to battle through injury, and discover ourselves as a team, I used what I learned and was able to push through the season, winning and drawing a majority of our games. We were defensively sound, but we were also offensively explosive. Everyone on the pitch contributed and put in the goals we needed to secure our points. The media predicted us to finish 14th in the league. My goals were to secure a mid-table spot. To both our surprises, we stayed in the top three throughout the competition. Second and 3rd place would secure our spot in the playoff mini-league. With five games left we were neck-and-neck amongst the top three. Going into the game against the number one team in the league, I was not expecting us to make a push for first but rather secure a position in the playoff mini League. However, our boys thought otherwise and battled their way to a victory! This left us in first place with 3 games left to go tied in points amongst the first second and third place teams. We had secured a playoff mini spot but now the pressure was on us to pull off the impossible. To make a long story short, we did it! We ran through three straight wins to win the First Division Title! As our boys rushed off the pitch to celebrate with their girlfriends on the final game of the season, go to prom, and do whatever these young kids are doing these days, the supporters flooded the field to show their support. As of now they are literally planning to erect a statue of me in front of the stadium. I really hope they get the hair right. I've snuck out away from the celebrations to find the old familiar dive bar I've cried in many a time. Screw you Alexandra Black Aces. May they never find the bones of that horrid goalkeeper. I finally cried tears of joy. Goodbye Celine. The song on the jukebox, the theme for next season: "I Will Survive"...

 

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54 minutes ago, ManUtd1 said:

I like the slightly angrier cover :D

Lol slightly angrier indeed. I do love the bass on that track though (I'm a bass player myself). Not sure if they have this version in the ole jukebox though ;)

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And here's the deluge of information from the season:

Club Background   Club Info   Facilities   Proof of Transfers   Pre-season Finances   Squad1   Squad2   End of Season Table (Wild!)   I Want That Statue   Season Review   End of Season Awards

Stars of the Season

I will do my usual top stars but will also include a few others to give you a better idea on my squad potential and how this season came to be.

GK: Thulani Motau- great goalie for us, clutch when we needed him. Very young and raw; I'm not the best at determining goalie youth potential but seems the part.

DEF: Hope Matloa- a brilliantly named U20 SA fullback. This kid is the real deal if we can continue to grow him. His goals came on vital PKs, where for some reason, he was the only one brave enough to not cave under the pressure. Defensively sound and great all around player.

MID: Oscar Buthalezi- he was not highly rated by my staff initially, but I had faith. He rewarded me by leading us in assists (8) and providing the goals (8) to boot. Excited to see his next season.

FW: Banele Ndlovu- he didn't blow us away with goals (10) the way that Sakhile did, but stepped up when we needed it. He is being chased after by Egypt as well now...

Mthobisi Myeza- DC

Owen Tau- DC

Lunga Hadebe- DM, MC

Thabang Dlamini- MC

Sihle Nduli- AMC

Lungelo Maboso- STC

 

 

 

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Chantu9Y

Chantu9Y

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2018 Youth Needs:

GK: When Motau went down with an injury, our 17 year old prospect Mnguni filled in admirably, helping us win 2/3 games. I think we should have enough there to see us through another season. Will be interested to see how quickly Motau adapts to the better strikers in this division.

DEF: I love my CBs. All three were great for me this season, and my fullbacks were top notch. We do need depth on either side, so a DL or a DR would be welcome.

MID: They were my strongest point. My CMs are fantastic and the youth look promising. My wing play is good on both sides with plenty of potential growth. Wouldn't mind an AMC as the depth behind Nduli isn't there.

FW: We have good youth prospects but need a consistent goal scorer like Sakhile. We won't survive in this league if we can't score, especially running my system.

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Chantu9Y

Chantu9Y

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2018 African Spotlight (Look to the Past, to Build a Better Future):

This year, in our search for a consistent forward with game changing potential, we travel back to Nigeria's Golden Team-

Nwankwo Kanu

Nwankwo Kanu is one of the continent best strikers of all time. His strong, tall body and dazzling technique gave him the ability to score the impossible goals for his teams. During his career at Arsenal in the period 1999-2004, he was known as a super-sub who helped his team win five major trophies. He was part of the golden generation of Ajax Amsterdam who won three Eredivisie titles and one Champions League trophy. The two times African Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1999 helped Nigeria to win the 1996 Olympics.

Kanu has won a UEFA Champions League medal, a UEFA Cup medal, three FA Cup Winners Medals and two African Player of the Year awards amongst others. He is also one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, UEFA Cup and an Olympic Gold Medal.[5] He made the third-most substitute appearances in Premier League history, appearing from the bench 118 times.

Nwankwo__KANU.png

Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993 Iwuanyanwu Nationale 25 (15)
1993–1996 Ajax 54 (25)
1996–1999 Inter Milan 12 (1)
1999–2004 Arsenal 119 (30)
2004–2006 West Bromwich Albion 58 (9)
2006–2012 Portsmouth 141 (20)
Total   404 (98)
National team
1993 Nigeria U17 6 (5)
1996 Nigeria U23 6 (3)
1994–2011 Nigeria 87 (12)
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