The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[SkiIIs]

14 hours ago, vikeologist said:

In my save I've taken over a Korean team (Suwon) because I think they're a better bet than a Chinese team.

Not denying China's been a good bet in the past, but in this 10/11 year save, no Chinese team has even come close. 8 years since there was even a Chinese team in the S/F. All the winners are from unplayable leagues such as Japan or Western Asian nations.

Australia are by far the highest team coefficient-wise of the playable nations in 4th (and Korea's places has just dropped due to poor performance in the ACL). Korea is 6th China 8th.

I'm not saying Korea is the better choice. Us managing teams is different from the AI.

In the past I'd say my winning the ACL has been roughly half and half between the 2 nations.

 

yeah its more than financial power with the some of Chinese teams that in truth the AI probably doesnt take full advantage of

i might give it a crack for something different...   ive made the final of Copa Libertardores so hopefully it might be a short wait (although it wont be a while before i play the final)

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Belgium 2032 Euros Report 

I went for a year without being able to find a club job I wanted, but in November '31 took over Belgium.

My first competitive matches will be at these Euros, so I’ve no idea how this will go. We stand a chance I suppose.

We have to reach the quarterfinals for me to keep my job, although if we don’t win I’ll be hoping to get a better one afterwards anyway.

Group Stage

Belgium     1-1    Switzerland

Our best player was sent off just as I was trying to sub him because he was injured. His replacement picked up an injury as well. So all in all, I was relieved to escape with a draw.

 Belgium     4-2    Hungary

Belgium   1-2     Italy

 

We finished 2^nd, albeit only by a goal difference of 1. Italy do seem to be one of the best sides in the competition, but it doesn’t bode well for our chances of winning it ourselves.

Next up, my own nation, Scotland. Don’t often meet them in FM. Looking forward to it.

Second Round

Spoiler

Belgium     7-3    Scotland

Job safety assured, next up is Ukraine. It looks like an easy fixture. They qualified from their group with just 2 draws and only beat Germany in extra time.

Mind you, both our wingers are suspended, and even more worryingly since I expect to win, 10 players are a yellow away from suspension for the semi.

Quarter Final

Spoiler

Belgium     3-1    Ukraine

Much tougher than expected. Our third goal came at the very end of injury time. However, the good news is we didn’t pick up many cards. Only 2 of our first XI suspended.

Next up is #1 team in the world France who had to beat #2 team England in their Q/F.

 

Semi Final

Spoiler

Belgium     1-2    France

We were 1-0 up, albeit against the balance of play, and bravely repelling a bombardment, when we had a defender sent off with a straight red, which kind of doomed us.

Final

Spoiler

N/A

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

I didn’t actually expect to win, so I’m not gutted, but it’s not great to go out of an international competition because of a straight red, and not the first time it’s happened to me in this save.

I nearly had a horrible dilemma, because the England manager was  sacked. Should I apply for the job after the tournament? As a Scot, I’ve never managed England once in 25 years of playing this game, but as this will probably be my last year doing so, what the hell! (They might not give me the job of course).

I also applied for Mexico (Gold Cup next year), Argentina and Italy. If Mexico hadn't offered me the job I'd have been annoyed given my success in the league, but thankfully they saw sense. Maybe none of the other nations wanted me, but it doesn’t matter. I need the Gold Cup, and it will be fun to catch up with a few of my old players.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-			Mexico


Challenge Progress 6/32

Club
 2/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 2/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 1/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa)	
 0/1 World Cup

 

Edited February 9, 2023 by vikeologist

[ANGL]

En 7/2/2023 a las 23:08, SkiIIs dijo:

interested to see how you fare with a Korean team in the ACL.  I've only won it with a Chinese team and have never managed in Korea, so wondering if it's a viable option for the future

 

En 8/2/2023 a las 8:44, vikeologist dijo:

In my save I've taken over a Korean team (Suwon) because I think they're a better bet than a Chinese team.

Not denying China's been a good bet in the past, but in this 10/11 year save, no Chinese team has even come close. 8 years since there was even a Chinese team in the S/F. All the winners are from unplayable leagues such as Japan or Western Asian nations.

Australia are by far the highest team coefficient-wise of the playable nations in 4th (and Korea's places has just dropped due to poor performance in the ACL). Korea is 6th China 8th.

I'm not saying Korea is the better choice. Us managing teams is different from the AI.

In the past I'd say my winning the ACL has been roughly half and half between the 2 nations.

 

These are the past winners on my save:

 

So 6 winners from non-playable leagues (4 Saudi Arabia, 1 Qatar, 1 Japan) and Ulsan from South Korea as only playable team. About the runner-ups, both Ulsan and Jeonbuk are from Korea.

Shangai SIPG are the only chinese team there, in fact, my original plan was to build a reputation in China and take over Shangai SIPG... but they have won the last 7 leagues in a row, so there was no vacancy. In my best season in China I finished 3rd, 15 points behind, so I considered them unbeatable and decided to change the strategy.

In a subjective way, I believe that there is more quality in Korea than in China (when changed teams scouted my best players and decided to sign none of them), but I could also be about my save, as Korean League is 3rd in reputation (was 1st when I joined) and Chinese League is 6th.

I would say ACL is achievable from Korea, specially when managing one of the top 4 (Jeonbuk, Ulsan, Suwon, Gwangju)

[Tubzinho]

I have been quietly plodding on with this. Got the Brazil job straight off and whilst morally it was an anomaly, I chose to stick with it as I had not broken any rules and here I had the opportunity to knock one of the harder acheivements off straight from the get-go - the World Cup. Managed to do that and the Copa America after it with a really good Brazil team but really struggled in the World Cup group stages until I stumbled upon a winger-less diamond formation that really got the best out of Neymar.

It was really difficult to get a club job. Despite having a World Cup win and a Copa America win under my belt, my reputation stayed at 20% and I struggled badly to get an interview. Managed to find a club in South Africa and then from there, got a better job at Amazulu and ticked the African Champions League off (in spite of the ACL bug). However, I noticed that it was only when I was doing my coaching badges did my reputation get the boost it deserved. After the first 3 badges my reputation jumped from 20% to 40% without actually having won anything or done anything of note, which was then enough to start getting interviews at better teams. Even now, I just completed my final Pro badge and my reputation went from 3 star to 3.5 star and 65%. I did now know how closely linked coaching badges and reputation were and its frustrating you can't do badges whilst managing a national team.

After Amazulu I took the Rosenborg job to hopefully get a league and cup in another nation but I really struggled tactically in Norway and only won the league. Also failed to win the FA Cup in South Africa so I may have to come back to these later. From there I have now moved to Necaxa, hoping the 22.3 will be released soon and fixes the Champions League bug before I have to register a squad! However I am squad building with this in mind.

 

Club Career

Year		Team (Country) 			League	Notes and Achievements
2024-2025	Royal Eagles (RSA) 		3rd		
2025-2026	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		DStv Premiership Winners	
2026-2027	Amazulu (RSA)			1st		MTN 8 Cup Winners, Telkom Knockout Cup Winners, DStv Premiership Winners, CAF Champions League Winners						
2027		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		2nd
2028		Rosenborg BK (NOR)		1st		Eliteserien Winners	
2028-2029	Necaxa (MEX)												
			
									

International Career

Year		Country				Notes &  Achievements
2022-2024	Brazil  				World Cup Winners (2022), Copa America (2024)
2028-		Ivory Coast


The Rules:
 
The 32 Competitions you must win to win the challenge

6 International Tournaments

- FIFA World Cup					- Brazil (2022)
- UEFA Euros (Europe)			
- AFC Asian Cup (Asia)									
- Copa America (South America)		- Brazil (2024)
- Gold Cup (North America)			
- AFCON (African Cup Of Nations)					
 
10 Leagues
THE BIG FIVE 
- La Liga (Spain)
- Premier League (England)
- Bundesliga (Germany)					
- Ligue 1 (France)						
- Serie A (Italy)								

 
AND 5 OTHER TOP LEAGUES 
- DStv Premiership (RSA)			- Amazulu (2025-2026, 2026-2027)
- Eliteserien (NOR)				- Rosenborg (2028)
-
-
-

 
5 Champions Leagues
 
- UEFA Champions League (Europe)
- Asian Champions League (Asia)
- Copa Libertadores (South America)	
- CONCACAF Champions League	 (North America)	
- CAF Champions League (Africa)				- Amazulu (2027)				

 
FIFA Club World Cup

10 Others (Domestic Cups from 10 separate nations

- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
- 
-
-
-

------------------------------------------------------------

 

[vikeologist]

@TubzinhoYou don't necessarily need to go back to S Africa to get that cup. The cups don't have to be from the same 10 nations as the 10 leagues. That said, S Africa is a relatively easy nation to secure a cup.

As for the bugs, reading between the lines, I'm not certain that SI have been / will be able to fix it/them, and as I've said, this doesn't seem like the kind of bug where a fix would be save compatible. That said, I don't know the nature of the bug. We'll just have to wait and see.

Doing the Africa and N America parts of the challenge felt like cycling uphill, and now I'm past it, it's easy going.

Incidentally, as well as the 2 continents, the bug also seems to be present in the Israeli domestic league. I don't know if it is, because it could be lots of separate registration bugs that just look the same. Anyway, I doubt anyone in the history of the challenge has ever incorporated Israel, but this wouldn't be a good year to start.

That's the thing about the challenge. It's 10 nations, (or at least 10 leagues. Usually slightly more nations) but 9 of them are basically pre-set, with China / S Korea being the only toss up in that 9.  I mean, if one was determined to, you can go through Argentina or USA, and I kind of wish I'd tried to do the ACL through Australia rather than Korea, just because I've never previously seen Australia as a good option. The Australian league is a lot stronger this year.

It's always the same leagues, and mostly the same teams. After 9 years of running this challenge, it does get a bit samey.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2032 Suwon Report 

I wasn’t sure about applying for the Suwon job when it became available midseason. I had doubts about whether one of their best players would fit with my tactics. (Turned out he fits just fine).

When I took over we were 8^th (out of 12 teams).

Things went better than I could possibly have imagined.

Well, I suppose I could have imagined that I would win all remaining 21 league matches, whereas in fact we only won 19 of them, with an annoying 0-0 draw in our final match.

I didn’t realise that the Champions League starts halfway through the season, but luckily we had qualified for it with last year’s league position, and qualified comfortably for it again finishing in 2^nd place. A 30 point deficit to rampant leader Jeonbuk was too much to make up, although we did beat them all 3 times and cut it to 12 points by the end.

We also finished top of our Champions League group, so I think we stand a chance in that as well.

Unfortunately we were out of the FA Cup before I took over. So, no trophies, but with lots of money to improve the team still further, we should do well next season.

I tend to give my Korean players nicknames to tell them apart. I know this is problematic, but in this challenge telling your players apart in the brief time you spend at clubs can be difficult.

Top Goalscorer – Assassin – 33

Just turned 20. Only scored 3 goals before I became manager.

My previous best striker really wanted to leave, and I could see that I had this kid in reserve, so I let the old guy go (to our next opponent who promptly inflicted our one defeat, against anybody, largely thanks to aforementioned old guy).

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Johnny – 7.53

An attacking midfielder. Also only 20 years old. Had a pitifully small release fee in his contract, and the new one he signed had an only slightly less pitiful one. Gave it another try at the end of the season. Thankfully it seems other clubs haven’t noticed.

Man of The Match – Johnny / Assassin – 5

Most Valuable Player– Johnny

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-			Mexico


Challenge Progress 6/32

Club
 2/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 2/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 1/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by vikeologist

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 26/01/2023 at 13:06, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

An amazing season! We somehow managed to win the league, which I was not expecting to do. A couple of 100 million signings helped us to financial debt but we will be able to turn a healthy profit off of their sales to pull us out. I don't know if I will stay to try to win the DFB Pokal or Champions League with Leverkusen or try to move elsewhere, we will see. If the right job opens up, I will take it, Germany is already complete. I also got to play against my favorite player, Agus Santoso, one more time! We were drawn against Spurs in the Europa League QF and he sent me packing - it felt bittersweet.

I am curious on your opinions - is it worth staying in Germany to try to take the cup? Or should I try to go elsewhere to speed things up?

Country

Took over Spain - looks like it's a decent squad in preparation for the World Cup. Really hoping we can make something happen here.

Challenge Progress
Club: Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Country: Spain

Domestic Leagues 7/10 (2 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 17/32

Club

A tough season. We won the league again, but that contributes nothing to the challenge. I thought we were going to be able to somehow pull an amazing run in the Champions League, and we did make a deep deep run, but we lost in the final to Chelsea after my defenders decided they didn't feel like showing up. Our top player dropped a 5.8 rating and an upset in the cup in early rounds to Hoffenheim meant a trophyless season.

(I resigned prior to getting my screenshots, whoops, no trophies regardless)

Country

Lost in the World Cup quarterfinals - conceded early and just couldn't get the offense running and therefore we lost 1-0 to Argentina. I'll be targeting an Asian team in hopes of an Asian Cup trophy.

Challenge Progress
Club: Unemployed
Country: Unemployed

Domestic Leagues 7/10 (2 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 17/32

[SkiIIs]

Season 2031 - Sao Paolo - Brazilian First Division

My third season at Sao Paolo (2.5 years) really chasing the Copa Libertadores and getting out of this grind of a nation.  Winning the league would be the icing on top.

Started the season with the State Cup which we were a little hit and miss during the league but fared better in the knockout rounds. We made it to the final for the second year running in my reign and won the first game at home 4 - 2 against Santos. We then bottled it away losing 5 - 1 as this competition has yet again eluded me. 

Onto the league, it was a slow start out of the blocks only winning 2 of the first 5 games but then we slowly found our groove in the middle to end of the year knocking off the teams around us.  Flamengo fell away and the title was between us and Santos who had a slender 1 point lead with 5 games to go. If we finished on equal points, Santos would have won the title as they had more league wins which is the points differentiator. We won our remaining 5 games, and fortunately Santos lost their third last match and hence we were crowned Champions for the first time since 2008!

We probably played our best football in the Copa Libertadores. We topped our group easily which included a 10 - 0 thrashing against Olimpia of Paraguay. In the second round, we were given an easy draw against Bolivar of Bolivia of course, we swept them aside 4 - 0 on aggregate with a great opportunity to give stars a well earned rest on the return leg. After that however, we were drawn against Atletico Mineiro and if we managed to get through we then would face arch nemeses Flamengo. We beat ATM away 1 - 0 and also won the return home leg 2 - 1 to set up the big semi final. First leg was away where we had to be content with a 1 - 1 draw with a goal disallowed in the 90th minute for us.  Would i curse that decision?!?!  The answer was no with a truly dominate 2 - 0 win only allowing the opposition 2 shots at goal.   In the final, another Brazilian opposition awaited us, Gremio who were fourth in the league. We played really well and were deserved winners, lifting the trophy after a 3 - 0 win with all three goals coming in the second half.   South American chapter complete!

A few interesting jobs had appeared, Chelsea, Dortmund and even Dinamo which would have been a very quick and dirty league title as they were sitting first by a mile half way through the season.  I had an interview with Chelsea who were doing ok in the Champions League however were only going to give me 800k transfer funds.  I asked for a little more in the interview and in the end that was the decision not to give me the job.  So instead I find myself in South Korea with Gwangju who qualified for the Asian Champions League last season and commence during the preseason giving me a full transfer window to play with. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by SkiIIs

[SkyjumperTalon]

21 hours ago, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

A tough season. We won the league again, but that contributes nothing to the challenge. I thought we were going to be able to somehow pull an amazing run in the Champions League, and we did make a deep deep run, but we lost in the final to Chelsea after my defenders decided they didn't feel like showing up. Our top player dropped a 5.8 rating and an upset in the cup in early rounds to Hoffenheim meant a trophyless season.

(I resigned prior to getting my screenshots, whoops, no trophies regardless)

Country

Lost in the World Cup quarterfinals - conceded early and just couldn't get the offense running and therefore we lost 1-0 to Argentina. I'll be targeting an Asian team in hopes of an Asian Cup trophy.

Challenge Progress
Club: Unemployed
Country: Unemployed

Domestic Leagues 7/10 (2 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 17/32

@vikeologist I feel silly... the right jobs aren't opening up for me and I really do regret resigning from the Leverkusen post. Would it be against challenge rules to start over my 2038/39 season (which has currently been spent unemployed) by going back and continuing on with Leverkusen? It's my favorite club and I resigned in a haste after a disappointing UCL final. Any international matches I need to replay, I will replay with the same result as before (meaning if I need to replay the world cup, I forget, I'll just lose in the QF).

Let me know if it's allowed or not. I have the old save file from just before I resigned at Leverkusen because I was reluctant to resign from my favorite club. 

[SkyjumperTalon]

1 hour ago, SkyjumperTalon said:

@vikeologist I feel silly... the right jobs aren't opening up for me and I really do regret resigning from the Leverkusen post. Would it be against challenge rules to start over my 2038/39 season (which has currently been spent unemployed) by going back and continuing on with Leverkusen? It's my favorite club and I resigned in a haste after a disappointing UCL final. Any international matches I need to replay, I will replay with the same result as before (meaning if I need to replay the world cup, I forget, I'll just lose in the QF).

Let me know if it's allowed or not. I have the old save file from just before I resigned at Leverkusen because I was reluctant to resign from my favorite club. 

Nevermind. I've just gone unemployed for the 2038/39 season and signed with Barcelona.

[vikeologist]

11 hours ago, SkyjumperTalon said:

@vikeologist I feel silly... the right jobs aren't opening up for me and I really do regret resigning from the Leverkusen post. Would it be against challenge rules to start over my 2038/39 season (which has currently been spent unemployed) by going back and continuing on with Leverkusen? It's my favorite club and I resigned in a haste after a disappointing UCL final. Any international matches I need to replay, I will replay with the same result as before (meaning if I need to replay the world cup, I forget, I'll just lose in the QF).

Let me know if it's allowed or not. I have the old save file from just before I resigned at Leverkusen because I was reluctant to resign from my favorite club. 

I'd probably have allowed it, mainly because in my first completion of this challenge I lost about a season's progress because of my computer dying or something like that. This was fairly late on, so I just replayed the season. It wasn't ideal, and the second time I achieved the challenge I aimed for everything I did to be whiter than snow, and vaguely achieved that I guess.

Of course that was a situation where I had no choice either to replay the season or start over completely, and maybe others would have disagreed with someone being allowed to replay just because they regret taking a job. I had that very situation in my current save with Atlas. I regretted taking the job almost straight away, and spent 2 seasons trying to make the best of a bad hand, and failing. I was tempted to just go back in time and not take the job, but I do feel that judging which job to take is part of the challenge for me, and I personally live or die by those decisions, (and sometimes agonise over them for ages. Before I took my current job at Suwon I agonised over it for a full 22 hours going back and forth, and as it turned out, it's been fantastic, but there's only so much you can tell before taking a job).

After nearly 9 years I'm just retelling the same anecdotes so I apologise to those who read this the first 5 or so times) but I was the 2nd person to ever start this challenge, and quickly had to restart when I took the first job from hell. Restarting when you bugger up the start is ok, because there are some really bad decisions that people make at the start.

So here is my theoretical guidance, if not a ruling on this issue.

I think that unless it's to overcome a huge bug (or lost save) one shouldn't 'time travel', but the important thing is to enjoy the challenge. 

Oh, and I'm not sure this has ever actually happened but is someone quit their job after winning the European Champions League, because they forgot about the Club World Cup, I'd also understand that. But don't forget about the Club World Cup.

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Big year coming up for me. 4 potential trophies; Korean league, Korean Cup, Gold Cup and Asian Champions League, and we (Suwon / Mexico) are probably overwhelming favourites to win the first 3 at least.

[SkiIIs]

13 hours ago, vikeologist said:

I'd probably have allowed it, mainly because in my first completion of this challenge I lost about a season's progress because of my computer dying or something like that. This was fairly late on, so I just replayed the season. It wasn't ideal, and the second time I achieved the challenge I aimed for everything I did to be whiter than snow, and vaguely achieved that I guess.

Of course that was a situation where I had no choice either to replay the season or start over completely, and maybe others would have disagreed with someone being allowed to replay just because they regret taking a job. I had that very situation in my current save with Atlas. I regretted taking the job almost straight away, and spent 2 seasons trying to make the best of a bad hand, and failing. I was tempted to just go back in time and not take the job, but I do feel that judging which job to take is part of the challenge for me, and I personally live or die by those decisions, (and sometimes agonise over them for ages. Before I took my current job at Suwon I agonised over it for a full 22 hours going back and forth, and as it turned out, it's been fantastic, but there's only so much you can tell before taking a job).

After nearly 9 years I'm just retelling the same anecdotes so I apologise to those who read this the first 5 or so times) but I was the 2nd person to ever start this challenge, and quickly had to restart when I took the first job from hell. Restarting when you bugger up the start is ok, because there are some really bad decisions that people make at the start.

So here is my theoretical guidance, if not a ruling on this issue.

I think that unless it's to overcome a huge bug (or lost save) one shouldn't 'time travel', but the important thing is to enjoy the challenge. 

Oh, and I'm not sure this has ever actually happened but is someone quit their job after winning the European Champions League, because they forgot about the Club World Cup, I'd also understand that. But don't forget about the Club World Cup.

 

I agree, making the right decisions is part of the challenge (and life) so for me its a big no.  

@SkyjumperTalon sounds like it was worth the wait anyways with Barca!

[changingman]

Got a bit trigger happy in my last attempt at this and got fired from Brentford trying to land a bigger job. 

Going to try again but alongside a "non-league to prem league" save - does anybody know if it's possible to land a job in the VNN/VNS with sunday league rep and no badges? 

[vikeologist]

20 minutes ago, changingman said:

Got a bit trigger happy in my last attempt at this and got fired from Brentford trying to land a bigger job. 

Going to try again but alongside a "non-league to prem league" save - does anybody know if it's possible to land a job in the VNN/VNS with sunday league rep and no badges? 

Yes.  It is.  Not going to guarantee every single club will offer you a job,  but yes,  it's viable. 

[pug 407]

Pug's FM 2023 Challenge

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by pug 407
update

[Silverblade]

Silverblade´s FM 2022 Ultimate Challenge.

[vikeologist]

On 14/02/2023 at 19:17, vikeologist said:

Big year coming up for me. 4 potential trophies; Korean league, Korean Cup, Gold Cup and Asian Champions League, and we (Suwon / Mexico) are probably overwhelming favourites to win the first 3 at least.

Part 1 of the quad achieved, and the most difficult part; the Asian Champions League.

The last 2 rounds weren’t easy, and in the first leg of the final 2 goals and a man down early on, I could see the chasm of another year opening up, but we made a comeback for the draw, and 3 second half goals at home secured the cup.

With the league also in the bag. (We’ve played 14 of 38 matches, but trust me) this means that I need to start thinking about the next job at the end of the season, even if we don’t win the cup.

The only other league I have loaded is Brazil, and I won’t even particularly want a job there until 12 months from now because I have no real desire to trudge through the state championships.

Anyway, that's a decision for the future.

Next up the Gold Cup.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1							ACL

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-			Mexico


Challenge Progress 7/32

Club
 2/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 3/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 1/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[ANGL]

2030: GANGWON FC

The objective for the season, which was Asian Champions League, was achieved! Just after the final came 2030 World Cup, in which South Korea was really dissapointing... I see managing South Korea as the natural step, but, after being insecure for 2 months, the job did not became available. I decided to stay until the end of the season, retaining the league but not being able to do so with Korean Cup.

Anyway, already resigned from Gangwon and looking for the next challenge. I feel like going for a national team, so will wait until the end of Asian Cup to see which jobs became available. I have also loaded South African and North American leagues, in case I don't like any of the national team jobs.

 

 

 

Title count: 3/32

[vikeologist]

On 18/02/2023 at 10:20, vikeologist said:

 

Next up the Gold Cup.

 

As it turned out, the Gold Cup wasn’t next because 2033 has a Club World Championship. We’ve been put in the same group as Real Madrid and Palmeiras, with only the top team going through, so I’m thinking this trophy may be slightly harder to win than the Quad.

We’re unbeaten in 48 matches, but I suspect that run’s about to come to an end. No even going to bother cutting and pasting the latter stages.

Group Stage

Spoiler

Suwon       0-0    Palmeiras

That shoots them down the list of Brazilian clubs I want to manage next.

Suwon       0-4    Real Madrid

Blooming Real ruining our unbeaten season.

(We lost our very next league match anyway).

Vikeologist's 2033 Mexico Gold Cup Report 

Mexico are ranked 8^th in the world. This should be easy, but in one of our only two competitive matches up to now, we sort of struggled to beat Jamaica 2-0. If I don’t win the Gold Cup, I might not get another chance with Mexico.

(Realised midway through the tournament that USA are actually ranked above us at 6^th, so this might not be so easy after all).

Group Stage

Spoiler

Mexico       4-1    Haiti

Mexico       8-0    Honduras

Mexico       13-0  Martinique

I suppose that could be considered trending in the right direction.

Quarter Final

Spoiler

Mexico       6-0    El Salvador

Semi Final

Spoiler

Mexico       4-2    Jamaica

The inevitable final against USA, but at least the shine was taken off their performance with a paltry 1-0 win against Costa Rica in the other semi. A huge amount at stake here for the challenge.

Final

Spoiler

Mexico       3-0    USA

We scored  all our 3 goals in the first 20 minutes. Brutally clinical in front of goal, and it seemed as though all the fight went out of USA after that.

After The Tournament

Spoiler

I’m unsure whether to quit. Mexico stand a chance in the Copa America (if we’re in it, but I don’t think they’re often in it. Even the World Cup isn’t an entirely crazy dream. It’s hard to know how good we are when we so rarely play anybody as good as us. Selecting squads shouldn’t take me long.

2 down, 2 to go.

2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1							ACL

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-			Mexico				Gold Cup


Challenge Progress 8/32

Club
 2/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 3/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 2/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America)	
 0/1 World Cup

 

[SkiIIs]

Season 2032 - Gwangju - K-League 1

First season with Gwangju (and first time ever managing in South Korea).  The list was half decent enough and the previous season they had qualified for the Asian Champions League after finishing 4th in the league. We started on fire and from there we never looked like losing the title, ended up wining it by 16 points.

In the Champions League, we finished second after only managing a point against Chinese giants SH Port in our two games. Fortunately enough tho, we won all our other games and hence went through as a best second place teams.  the knockout rounds are due to play next season.

We were knocked out of the FA cup in the fourth round to Jeju which was quite disappointing.

[Fletchdt]

Hong Kong has 3 cups that all the teams from the top league enter, does each 1 count as a cup win or is it just any 1 out of the 3 that count?

[vikeologist]

8 hours ago, Fletchdt said:

Hong Kong has 3 cups that all the teams from the top league enter, does each 1 count as a cup win or is it just any 1 out of the 3 that count?

Any 1 of the 3.  Cups from 10 different nations. 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2033 Suwon Report 

As per above, I completed the first 2 parts of my hoped for quad; the Champions League and Gold Cup.

That just left the league, which we won comfortably by 24 points and the FA Cup, which we won comfortably as well.

Back on the challenge leader board for the first time in a while.

So now I will quit and wait for a suitable Brazilian job to come up. I won’t be upset if I have to wait half a year or more and miss the states.

Update: I'm going to add Argentina as well. Argentinian sides have actually been doing quite well in the Libertadores. 

Top Goalscorer – Spock – 41

Signed at the start of the season as a promising backup, became the starter. If he’d been the starter all season, he’d have probably scored more than 60, but with so many matches and the league a cakewalk, I rotated a lot.

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Surprise – 7.96

Another promising new signing. Another victim of rotation.

Man of The Match – Johnny / Surprise – 8

2 of my 3 attacking midfielders that I rotate.

Most Valuable Player– Johnny

My third attacking midfielder in the rotation, Soufian Miri, is probably the best player at the club. In fact I gave him his first international cap for Morocco before he even made a single first team club appearance, which was here for me at Suwon.

But Johnny just seems to deserve the MVP again.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-			Mexico				Gold Cup


Challenge Progress 10/32

Club
 3/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea)			
 2/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea)							
 3/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 2/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

Edited February 26, 2023 by vikeologist

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 12/02/2023 at 18:51, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

A tough season. We won the league again, but that contributes nothing to the challenge. I thought we were going to be able to somehow pull an amazing run in the Champions League, and we did make a deep deep run, but we lost in the final to Chelsea after my defenders decided they didn't feel like showing up. Our top player dropped a 5.8 rating and an upset in the cup in early rounds to Hoffenheim meant a trophyless season.

(I resigned prior to getting my screenshots, whoops, no trophies regardless)

Country

Lost in the World Cup quarterfinals - conceded early and just couldn't get the offense running and therefore we lost 1-0 to Argentina. I'll be targeting an Asian team in hopes of an Asian Cup trophy.

Challenge Progress
Club: Unemployed
Country: Unemployed

Domestic Leagues 7/10 (2 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 17/32

Club

A nerve-wrecking season, it ended up going to goal difference. It had to be the 33-year-old club legend Waldemar Antonio (5x Balon d'or winner) to win the league for us in the 85th minute of our final game to give us a win over Real Sociedad. In Europe, I lost to my former employers Bayer Leverkusen in the first knockout round, and a semi-final exit in the Copa Del Ray to Real Madrid saw us knocked out of that competition. The transfer budget and finances are looking pretty slim so I can only hope to have a successful transfer window this offseason. I don't want to spend too much longer here in Spain before going off to Italy or even England to try to win the Prem. The Copa del Ray is a must-win, the champions league can wait until my English team if needed.

Country

Looking good to prepare for Copa America, this should be a win. It will just come down to whether or not we can beat Argentina.

Challenge Progress
Club: FC Barcelona
Country: Brazil

Domestic Leagues 8/10 (3 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)
2040: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 18/32

[vikeologist]

@SkyjumperTalonIt's tough when you fall behind on the cups. The fact there's no Mexican cup now pretty much necessitates at least one extra nation, unless one can win the Champions League in the MLS.

However, it sucks to stay  at a club just to win the cup. Hopefully you can win the CL to make it worthwhile.

Luckily I'm only 1 cup behind, and I could collect that fairly quickly from nations with 2 domestic cups. (I don;t mean they would count as 2 cups, just that I wouldn't have to stay there as long if that's all I need).

[Fletchdt]

On 26/02/2023 at 06:43, vikeologist said:

Any 1 of the 3.  Cups from 10 different nations. 

Thanks. Shame its from 10 different nations, as I have just won all 3 in Hong Kong.

 

 

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 27/02/2023 at 09:41, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

A nerve-wrecking season, it ended up going to goal difference. It had to be the 33-year-old club legend Waldemar Antonio (5x Balon d'or winner) to win the league for us in the 85th minute of our final game to give us a win over Real Sociedad. In Europe, I lost to my former employers Bayer Leverkusen in the first knockout round, and a semi-final exit in the Copa Del Ray to Real Madrid saw us knocked out of that competition. The transfer budget and finances are looking pretty slim so I can only hope to have a successful transfer window this offseason. I don't want to spend too much longer here in Spain before going off to Italy or even England to try to win the Prem. The Copa del Ray is a must-win, the champions league can wait until my English team if needed.

Country

Looking good to prepare for Copa America, this should be a win. It will just come down to whether or not we can beat Argentina.

Challenge Progress
Club: FC Barcelona
Country: Brazil

Domestic Leagues 8/10 (3 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)
2040: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 18/32

 

 

 

Copa America champions! A poor group stage with losses to the USA and Bolivia meant that we were only able to scrape 3rd in the group, setting up a tie against Mexico. We were strong but couldn't finish our chances, sending us to a shootout, which we won thanks to two saves from our goalkeeper. The semifinal against Argentina had me nervous, but we ended up winning without any real problems. We confidently also dispatched Colombia in the final to give me trophy #19 in the challenge! Only 13 to go, the main thing is to start winning some cups. Here's to the Copa del Ray

[SkiIIs]

2033 Asian Champions League

The knockout phase paired us with K-League opponents all the way to the final. We drew with Seoul away 2 - 2 and then won 4 - 2 at home with goals in the 79th and 90th minute sandwiched a disallowed goal for them which would have put them ahead on away goals. 

Next was Jeju who were way more straightforward. Then Jeonbuk in the semi where we beat them 4 - 0 away first up giving us some breathing space. I rested some players who were sitting on yellow cards and boy did that go against me.  They scored 2 goals in the first 2 minutes which put us on the back foot. We pegged one back to make it 5 - 2 on aggregate in the 6th minute and then levelled the match in the 21st. Jeonbuk then score 2 goals in the 51st and 59th minute to make it 6 - 4 on aggregate but we then reassured the 3 goal lead in the 63rd in what was a crazy match indeed. The goals werent over there, they then scored in the 72nd minute and then put away a penalty in the 87th to make it 7 - 6 on aggregate meaning another goal for Jeonbuk would put them through on away goals. Some nervous minutes were to follow but we held off to get into the final.

We got Al-Rayyan in the final. First game at home we started on fire scoring in the 3rd and 13th minute and totally dominating the match.  It had me thinking that our foreign opponents werent a match for us. We then copped a goal against the run of play in the 62nd minute and failed to take our opportunities to only win 2 - 1. Taking a slender 2 - 1 lead away and dealing with some key injuries, i was a little nervous and in the end I had every right to be!  Couple of our back up players had poor ratings and our key man didnt stand up as we lost 2 - 0.  Gotta do this all again!

 

 

[SkiIIs]

2033 AFCON - Nigeria

My uptenth attempt to win the AFCON and my first international title and my first attempt with Nigeria.   Had a full squad to choose from apart from my Gwangju striker who was injured (and missed the Asian Champions League Final). Ive won every single game I've coached with Nigeria in the two years I've managed them so confidence was high and the expectation by the Board was to win it.  So anything less would mean a potential sacking.

Group Phase we had Guinea, Liberia and Angola where we won 1 - 0, 3 - 1 and 4 - 1 respectively. Second round we got Cape Verde.

Second Round 

Spoiler

4 - 0 demolition.  We get Marocco in the Quarters

QF

Spoiler

We needed goals in the 88th and 90th minute to win 3 - 1 after coming back from a goal by Marocco in the 60th min.  Ivory Coast in the semis

SF

Spoiler

Started off well taking the lead in the 3rd minute. Then my Leeds United defender Calvin Bassey was sent off for a reckless challenge in the 26th minute.  It went to crap after that and we lost 4 - 1 and ultimately was sacked.  Little bit over this part of the world so might look elsewhere for a title.

Final

Spoiler

3rd place final we lost to Guinea 1 - 0 in a match i couldnt care less about.

 

[SkiIIs]

The Gold Cup just finished and the US beat Mexico in the final.  Unfortunately the Mexico job did not become available so i have settled for this...   

[vikeologist]

Final patch out, and according to the release notes SI have fixed the African registration issue, but no mention of North America.

I'll try to find time to test it, but

a) I really expect it to need a new save to take effect

b) the fact they didn't mention N America doesn't mean it's not fixed. We don;t know if it's the same problem cropping up twice or two different problems.

Whatever. The bugs are as fixed as they're ever going to be. 

If anybody does do a new start, please do let us know if it's fixed once you get to African or N American competitions.

Edited March 2, 2023 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2034 Mexico World Cup Report 

Feeling pretty chill about this. I probably have to get to the QF to avoid the sack, and that’s unlikely to happen, but I’d be leaving afterwards anyway, even if I win the damn thing.

We have a few key players missing the WC through injury. Winning is unlikely, but more likely than if I wasn’t hare at all

Group Stage

Spoiler

Mexico       5-0    Bulgaria

Mexico       4-0    Peru

Next up is South Korea, which is a tasty matchup, because maybe if we beat them they’ll sack their manager. Probably not.

Second Round

Spoiler

Mexico       2-3    South Korea

Oh well. So much for my chances of getting the S Korea job. This was my first match after the final update. I hope it’s not an omen.

Third Round

Spoiler

n/a

Quarter Final

Spoiler

n/a

Semi Final

Spoiler

n/a

Final

Spoiler

n/a

After The Tournament

Spoiler

I waited to be sacked.

I didn’t get any of the jobs I applied for; Argentina, Italy, Spain, France. I thought I stood a chance.

Still no suitable club jobs either. 

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico				Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup


Challenge Progress 10/32

Club
 3/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa, Mexico, S Korea)			
 2/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa, S Korea)							
 3/5 club continental championships	(Africa, N America, Asia)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 2/5 continental tournaments 		(Africa, N America)	
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[Crispypaul]

Giving this a go again now post patch

Profile

[vikeologist]

I think the African registration bug is fixed, as claimed in the patch notes. (For new saves). 

I think it's possible the fix is save game compatible, which would be an unexpected bonus. 

In Africa.

There's clearly still something wrong with N American registration, but it would need someone to actually work through it to figure out whether it's exactly the same problem as before.

I think these guys at the top are all registered. You just don't have a choice whether to register them. It is very clear that if fixed, it is significantly less fixed than in Africa. I'm basically taking a snapshot of the situation. It needs someone to play through the whole registration timetable to see what's going on.

 

I don't think I have the patience to figure it out, because it's not as though there's any real point, other than it would be nice to give you guys reassurance, which I can't do.

But if you did abandon a save because of the African bug, it might be worth giving it another load to see if it is save game compatible.

 

[vikeologist]

SI think they've fixed the CONCAAF bug and have marked the thread as resolved. And maybe they have. It's a complicated bug. I mean, it still looks broken, but I'll admit I have only wasted a couple of hours of my life on this, (this morning. God knows how much time I've wasted reporting the bugs to SI since November), because I managed to get past it on my save. I just did a few quick tests.

CONCACAF Champions League Registration Issue - Page 2 - [North America] (Official) League Specific Issues - Sports Interactive Community (sigames.com)

Edited March 3, 2023 by vikeologist

[Crispypaul]

Took me until late January 2023 but got my first job at All Stars FC in the South African NFD (2nd tier)

All Stars

[SkiIIs]

On 03/03/2023 at 22:16, vikeologist said:

I think the African registration bug is fixed, as claimed in the patch notes. (For new saves). 

I think it's possible the fix is save game compatible, which would be an unexpected bonus. 

In Africa.

There's clearly still something wrong with N American registration, but it would need someone to actually work through it to figure out whether it's exactly the same problem as before.

I think these guys at the top are all registered. You just don't have a choice whether to register them. It is very clear that if fixed, it is significantly less fixed than in Africa. I'm basically taking a snapshot of the situation. It needs someone to play through the whole registration timetable to see what's going on.

 

I don't think I have the patience to figure it out, because it's not as though there's any real point, other than it would be nice to give you guys reassurance, which I can't do.

But if you did abandon a save because of the African bug, it might be worth giving it another load to see if it is save game compatible.

 

this is what i was getting in Africa when i completed it.  You couldnt physically register the players but most of the players were registered for the games.  All but 1 or 2 players from memory

[Crispypaul]

  

          

  Crispypaul
All Stars
South Africa National First Division
2022/23

League - Season Review 1 | Season Review 2 - not actually in that bad a position when I joined, we kept pushing and just snuck into the play-offs against Richards Bay of the PSL and Cape Town Spurs.  I thought that was it when we lost 4-0 at home to Cape Town Spurs however they dropped points to a weirdly rubbish Richards Bay then we won at their place to win promotion.

Nedbank Cup - Fixtures - out before I joined

Transfers - a few free transfers and loans in January

Finances - not great

Squad 

Key players:

Keletso Makgalwa - forward on loan, shame we couldn't sign him on expiry of his contract

Diamond Thopola - strong right back

Phumlani Ntshangase - former Maritzburg midfielder

Malebogo Modise - internationally capped left back/winger

Promise Mkhuma - another loanee is this excellent striker, going to Fortuna Dusseldorf on a bosman too

Future - weirdly we're moving to a 500 seat hockey stadium in Cape Town (the club is in Johannesburg) whilst seats are put in the stadium, i've had to raise that as a bug.

Anyway this was an unexpected promotion, I am going to do a massive squad overhaul as a lot of the team will not be good enough for the PSL

Domestic
Season	 Team			Division		Position			Notes						
2022/23	 All Stars 	South African NFD	 	3rd				Promoted through playoffs

International
Year	   	Team				Achievements

		
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
 0/1 world tournaments

[SkiIIs]

Season 2033/34 - Gwangju - K League

Having won the league last year and losing the champions league in the final this year, the remainder of the season was about progressing through the Champions League group and winning the FA Cup.  We did just that on both fronts whilst also closing out another invincible season, my second in this challenge.

The start of 2034 it was about winning the Champions League and ticking the last remaining trophy in this part of the world.

It was almost over before it began!  In the second round we played against Sydney FC, what seemed to be a favourable draw.  First game at home on an icey cold pitch we lost 3 -2 conceding the third in the 89th minute. Our short passing game was exploited and with the away goal rule, we'd have to win by two goals in Sydney. Started off well scoring early on but that was it for the half. Sydney then equalised in the 83rd minute meaning we needed 2 goals to progress.  Not gonna lie, there might have been a huge bang of the desk!  Barrera our Argentian defender scored a minute after conceding, then our hero Abdullahi scored in the 89th minute to exact revenge and put us through into the next round.   After that, it was smooth sailing all the way through to the final.

I immediately resigned afterwards despite wanting to continue the unbeaten 54 game league run that we were currently in.

Edited March 10, 2023 by SkiIIs

[pug 407]

Pug's 2023 Challenge Update

So As I Was Applying For Jobs Out Off The Blue Come This Offer From Charlton. Which I Think Is A Bit To Good For My Reputation In The Game.

So With That I Turned It Down.

[pug 407]

Pug's 2023 Challenge Update

And Again With Millwall

 

 

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 28/02/2023 at 16:11, SkyjumperTalon said:

 

 

 

Copa America champions! A poor group stage with losses to the USA and Bolivia meant that we were only able to scrape 3rd in the group, setting up a tie against Mexico. We were strong but couldn't finish our chances, sending us to a shootout, which we won thanks to two saves from our goalkeeper. The semifinal against Argentina had me nervous, but we ended up winning without any real problems. We confidently also dispatched Colombia in the final to give me trophy #19 in the challenge! Only 13 to go, the main thing is to start winning some cups. Here's to the Copa del Ray

Club

Up and down. An unbelievable league campaign with 36 wins, 1 draw, and only 1 loss. However, that doesn't mean much if I've already won the league. For the first time in seven years, I finally took care of a cup competition and won easily, we actually didn't play against a top division team until the final. However, yet another shocking UCL campaign saw us exit the competition in the Quarterfinals. It wasn't good enough to qualify us for the 2041 Club World Cup, which was really my main goal this year. 

No good jobs are open right now. I think I'll stay in charge with one last go for the champions league (this team is really strong).

Country

After our Copa America win, we are just counting the days until the 2042 World Cup. 

Challenge Progress
Club: FC Barcelona
Country: Brazil

Domestic Leagues 8/10 (3 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)
2040: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Domestic Cups 6/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2041: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)
2040: South America (Brazil)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 20/32

[SkiIIs]

With Asia, Africa and South America completed in terms of club continental competitions, my next logical step was to look to move to North America.  At the time of resigning from Gwangju, this role was available:

And as it was a World Cup year, it only made sense to apply for roles as I was sick of losing the AFCON and decided what better opportunity then to manage this nation:

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 08/03/2023 at 20:37, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

Up and down. An unbelievable league campaign with 36 wins, 1 draw, and only 1 loss. However, that doesn't mean much if I've already won the league. For the first time in seven years, I finally took care of a cup competition and won easily, we actually didn't play against a top division team until the final. However, yet another shocking UCL campaign saw us exit the competition in the Quarterfinals. It wasn't good enough to qualify us for the 2041 Club World Cup, which was really my main goal this year. 

No good jobs are open right now. I think I'll stay in charge with one last go for the champions league (this team is really strong).

Country

After our Copa America win, we are just counting the days until the 2042 World Cup. 

Challenge Progress
Club: FC Barcelona
Country: Brazil

Domestic Leagues 8/10 (3 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)
2040: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Domestic Cups 6/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2041: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)
2040: South America (Brazil)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 20/32

Turns out I was wrong!! We did qualify for the Club World Cup and somehow we've ended up winning it. 

I've got an offer from Juventus which I will take, now that I've achieved everything that I think is reasonable. I don't think it's worth sticking around at Barca for another year just to try to win the UCL, simply because you never know when another job offer like Juventus comes around.

 

Challenge Progress
Club: Juventus
Country: Brazil

Domestic Leagues 8/10 (3 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2037: Germany (Bayer Leverkusen)
2040: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Domestic Cups 6/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)
2041: Spain (FC Barcelona)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)
2040: South America (Brazil)

Global 1/2

2041: Club (FC Barcelona) 

TOTAL PROGRESS: 21/32

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2035 Gremio (and Australia) Report 

After leaving Suwon I didn’t have a club job for almost 2 years, and I went back and forth about taking the one I eventually did. Gremio were in relegation trouble with little chance of regaining enough ground to qualify for the Copa Libertadores next season. However, I decided to take a chance for a couple of reasons; they seemed in good shape financially and they were in the semi-finals of the Copa Sudamerica, the winners of which qualify straight for the Lib.

I figured if they didn’t win the Sudamerica, I could quit.

We did win it though, and at that stage were on a late charge to also qualify on league position. After winning the Sud, we fell off a bit and only finished in 11th.

Still the team have performed quite well, and hopefully I can make a play next season.

All awards need to be considered in the light of the fact that the team sucked before I took over.

Top Goalscorer – Lucão – 19

And that’s from 58 starts. Obviously much more prolific under me. 10 goals in 12 matches, but 6 of those came in the first 3 matches. No plans to replace him, but I’m not entire convinced he’s the future.

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Daril – 7.25 My left winger. Form fell off with the team’s. Another question mark, although has no competition for his place at the moment.

Man of The Match – Daniel Felipe – 9

My goalie. Nobody’s place in the team is more secure than his.

 

I also took over the Australia team after the Asian Cup, which means I have a full 4 years to wait until my chance to win it. This one I regret taking, especially since their performances haven’t convinced me. However we have just beaten S Korea with a heavily rotated 1st team in a friendly. We have on our first 5 competitive, though really all that competitive, matches.

There’s a good chance another international job comes up during the 4 years to tempt me.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	3rd					Left before playoffs
2029	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	n/a					Lost immediately in playoff plelim.
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Won league. Lost Champions League on penalties
2030	Pumas		Mex 1st Ap	1st					League champs
2031	Pumas		Mex 1st Cl	1st		Hugo Moreno		League / NACL double.
2032	Suwon		Kor L1		2nd		Johnny			Took over in 8th with 21 matches to go.
2033	Suwon		Kor L1		1st		Johnny			League, Cup, ACL
2035	Gremio		Bra L1		11th					Took over midseason. Won Copa Sudamerica to qualify for Copa Lib.

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-31			Morocco				ACON S/F
							WC R2
							ACON winners.
31-32			Belgium				Euro S/F
32-34			Mexico				Gold Cup, sacked after World Cup
35			Australia


Challenge Progress 10/32

 

Edited March 13, 2023 by vikeologist

[Crispypaul]

  

  

          

  Crispypaul
All Stars
South Africa Premier Soccer League
2023/24

League - Table - a very good finish in 4th place which also qualified us for the Confederation Cup for next season

Nedbank Cup - Fixtures - good run to the semis where Royal AM were just too much

Transfers - a mass overhaul

Finances - settled down now

Squad 

Key players:

Wandle Duba - great striker on loan from Kazier Chiefs, extended to next season

Andrew Mbeba - Zimbabwean centre half signed on a free part way through the season

Mohau Mokate - experienced striker

Pansa Hemviboon - solid Thai centre half

Prince Nxumalo - another prolific striker despite his stats

Sifiso Ngobeni - great left back

Future - there are no big clubs up so I've signed a contract for another couple of years for now

Also became Ghana manager after the AFCON, only friendlies so far

Domestic
Season	 Team			Division		Position			Notes						
2022/23	 All Stars 	South African NFD	 	3rd				Promoted through playoffs
2023/24	 All Stars	South African PSL		4th				

International
Year	   	Team				Achievements
2023/24		Ghana
		
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
 0/1 world tournaments

[TheLutterworthFox]

Decided to give this a go, love a crazy challenge and this is definitely that!!

 And after 4 months I have my first job. 

 

 

Sichuan Jiuniu FC are currently 3rd in the Chinese Jia League (2nd tier), their manager moved to the Super League and they have appointed me to seal promotion, we only have 8 games left. An instant chance of some success!

Edited March 15, 2023 by TheLutterworthFox

[TheLutterworthFox]

2022 Season - Sichaun Jiuniu

We only had 8 league games left and we had a battle to seal  a top three spot, we played really well in the final games, scoring lots but Shaanxi, who we were battling with were also winning, they won their game in-hand meaning we spent most of those final games chasing them. With a game to go we sat a point behind them, with the better head-to-head we knew we only had to better their result to go above them, we did win our match but unfortunately Shaanxi won as well meaning we missed out on promotion by the skin of our teeth.

A good end to the season overall with only one league defeat, this gives me hope for next season but need to bolster the ranks and improve the squad.

[Crispypaul]

  

  

  

          

  Crispypaul
All Stars
South Africa Premier Soccer League
2023/24

League - Season Review 1 | Season Review 2 - some key signings really gelled so we ended up (despite a couple of wobbles near the end) lifting the league title

Nedbank Cup - Fixtures - made it to the final but lost to Sundowns

Telkom Knockout - Fixtures - at least we lifted the cup to get our first achievement

MTN8 - Fixtures - also lifted the cup here although it doesn't count to the challenge

CAF Confederation Cup - Fixtures | Table - a pretty mammoth competition this one, as the group stages are played in the first half of the year.  We got through that then had to face two Egyptian sides (shame this league is still not in FM officially) then Wydad Casablanca over the two legged final, for which we won both legs to lift the cup.

Transfers - much more settled and bought some players

Finances - good cup runs paid well although a lot going on a new stadium

Squad 

Key players:

Wandle Duba - high scoring again, joining on a free at the season end

Andrew Mbeba - another good season for the defender

Reyaad Pieterse - solid goalkeeper

Sinethemba Mngomezulu - high scoring ex CT City striker

Panashe Mutimbanyoka - Zimbabwean international striker had a good debut season

Aimé Tendeng - paid £40k for this Senegalese midfielder

Future - qualified for the African CL so that's our aim 

Ghana - I've got the 2025 Afcon next

Domestic
Season	 Team			Division		Position			Notes						
2022/23	 All Stars 	South African NFD	 	3rd				Promoted through playoffs
2023/24	 All Stars	South African PSL		4th				
2024/25	 All Stars	South African PSL		1st				Won MTN8, Telkom, Confed Cup

International
Year	   	Team				Achievements
2023/24		Ghana
2024/25		Ghana				Qualified for AFCON
		
Challenge Progress

Club
 1/10 top domestic leagues (All Stars, South Africa, 24/25)
 1/10 domestic cups (All Stars, South Africa, 24/25)
 0/5 club continental championships
 0/1 club world championship 

International
 0/5 continental tournaments
 0/1 world tournaments