The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[lukefox44]

Luke Fox

DL Pro

2022 / 2023

After moving on from Steenberg United I took charge of DL Pro just before the league season was about to start. We were predicted to finish mid table and after looking at the squad and the rest of the league I thought that was a fair prediction. Before leaving at the end last year Rafa Benitez had managed to win the Chinese Fa Cup so we got to play Guangzhou Evergrande in the Chinese equivalent of the community shield. Guangzhou have won 9 of the last 10 league titles and were odds on favourite to win it this year, so this would be a good earlier test for the team and should give me and idea of what to expect this season. We played very well and lost on penalties but that doesn't tell the full story. We missed a penalty at 1-1 and then quickly went 2-1 down, but we fought back and took the lead 3-2 with 20 mins left. It looked like we would hold on for a decent win but in the 96th minute of only 4 added we conceded and were taken to extra time and ultimately to penalties. Boateng who missed the penalty in 90 minutes was looking confident and was our best penalty taker by a mile, so I had no choice but to ask him to take another one. He missed, we lost, however a good performance even if it was a glorified friendly. This game was maybe the beginning of the end for Boateng however, he would perform OK but when taking up one of only four I really needed more from him, more on this later.

 

We had a relatively slow start to the season with 3 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws, we were sat in mid table and not playing very exciting football. I made a few tweaks, went more possession  based and about 8 or 9 games in it really started to click. We were climbing the table quickly and beating some good teams along the way. But we still had the problem of Boateng not really adding much to the side, so I set out to  replace him. The man I settled on was Ryan Kent from Rangers for £20m and he hit the ground running, he slotted straight in with a brace and an assist on debut and that was just the start,

 

 

As you can see he was unreal, 5 POTM in only 18 games, he really turned us from a decent team into a very good one. With him playing superb we shot up the league and found ourselves in second a point behind the formidable Guangzhou. We went on a crazy unbeaten run, but that was in doubt when we went 3-0 in the first half to a team we should really be beating and it looked like the dream season was over, but somehow we managed to snatch a last minute point and our assault on the top end of the table was still on. In fact Guangzhou had lost and this magical point had put us top on head to head.

 

 

We had about 6 games left and we still had to play Beijing Guoan, who were two points behind us and Guangzhou Evergrande, so even though it was tough run in the title was ours to lose. All three of us won the next two games, it was still all to play for.  We thumped Beijing Guoan 6-2, even after they had a dodgy penalty after only 3 minutes, but we fought back quickly and easily dominated them. This put us 6 points ahead of them with only 3 game left but still only level with Evergrande. With two games left we were 2 points ahead of Evergrande but now it was time to play them, with both of us having simple final day games this would be the game that decided the title, a draw for us in both the last two games would be enough to win it on head to head. In a reverse of the Beijing Guoan game it was our turn to get a dubious early penalty. We converted and then quickly made it 2-0, a score we easily held onto without much threat. We had a four point lead with a game to go, WE WERE CHAMPIONS!

 

 

The league was closely fought all the way until the end, we only lost twice all season but Evergrande kept 18 clean sheets in 30 games, it really was us being unbeaten against them and Beijing Guoan that won us the title. We were not top for the majority of the season until those crucial games. As you can see match 24 and that rescued 3-3 was pivotal to our season.

 

 

I won manager of the year, Sam Larson our shadow striker won golden boot and Li Sirong a 19 year old centre back we signed from Den Haag won rookie of the year. We also had 8 out of the 18 players in the team of the season awards. To say it was a good season would be an understatement.

 

Plans for next season are to stay at DL Pro, try and win the domestic cup and give the Asian Champions league a good go, we are a good enough squad to compete to win both I think. Hopefully this season wasn't a fluke.

 

Club Progress

 

International Progress

oh yeah I forgot to mention, I took the Albania job, for a reason I'm still not sure of. I think I hoped for a good nations league performance and a little boost to my rep. That worked the exact opposite, I took over after 2 games, with 4 to go, I drew 1 and lost the other 3, we were relegated and my manager rep took a hit.

Challenge Progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by lukefox44
Typo

[vikeologist]

yes. possible crap national jobs just damage rep.

[lukefox44]

1 minute ago, vikeologist said:

yes. possible crap national jobs just damage rep.

Yeah I hoped we could turn the Nations league campaign around and maybe quickly boost my rep, I was so so wrong haha.

Not sure if I should stay or cut my losses with them.

I was starting to think maybe FM 21 was a bit too easy, but nothing easy about being the Albania boss.

[MShing]

Guangzhou Evergrande Season - 2023

 

So after I left Supersport UTD in South Africa I spent a couple of months unemployed, a number of unattractive jobs became available in China, but with limited budgets I just didnt fancy them. Then Guangzhou sacked their manager, one of the larger teams in the Chinese League, applied and got the job. They gave me a nice transfer kitty of £120 and boy did I need it!

The squad was a miss match of below average Chinese players and expensive overpaid, old foreign superstars. With a limit of 5 foreigners allowed in the match day squad, we had 7 foreigners in our squad, I couldn't really sell the ones I didn't need and sign a couple more because we can only register 6 foreign players per season. I tried to sign a few chinese players to fill gaps in our squad, but even most of those were overpriced .

I took over about halfway through the season, we were 5th when I took over and the board wanted a title challenge, I stupidly told them I could do better than that and pretty much guarantee the title, I did this before I had a good look at the playing squad and regret that decision. When I took over we were around 7 points behind the league leaders Bejing Guoan. I didnt fancy our chances but we hit the ground running and went on a good run and started to slowly claw back their lead. in the end we finished 2nd, 6 points away after a poor final day loss.

Spoiler

 

Although we did not win the league, we did better in the Chinese FA cup, an easy route to the final and an easy 2 legged final.

Spoiler

i

Our most stand out player was probably our elderly forward Elkeson, he finished the season our top scorer, but I was not impressed and with his age I will look to offload in the off season. 

Spoiler

 

Next Season

What for next season? Well we need to make a good start to the league campaign, hopefully we can improve upon 2nd place. The board want us to reach the final of the champions league, it may be achieveable will have to wait and see on that one.

I think I may have stumbled upon a bug this season, when I took over mid season, I seemed to have inherited the previous managers promises. One promise was to strengthen players in attack. I didnt make this promise and when the promise expired at the end of the season I had 6 or 7 players come to me asking for a transfer saying I had broken a promise. I have reported it in the bugs forum, they said it doesnt sound right but asked for a save before I took over the job which I didnt have so, not sure much will come of it unless other people report it too. So it looks like I have quite a big rebuilding job with half the team wanting to leave and overpaid ageing foreign stars.

Also I had the below news item pop up end of the season

Spoiler

 

Thats right, we failed financial fair play and our registrations for next season have been cut, cannot believe it! with me needing to rebuild this has made it that much harder

 

Season   Team   		Position  	Key Player		Notes and Achievements
21/22	 Supersport United	1st		Rodney Ramagalela	Won Telekom Knockout Cup
22/23	 Supersport United	1st		Oswin Appollis		Won CAF Champions league, MTN 8 Cup, Knockout Cup
2023	 Guangzhou Evergrande	2nd		Elkeson			Won Chinese FA Cup

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa)

2/10 domestic cups (South Africa, China)

1/5 club continental championships (CAF Champions League)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/1 world tournaments ()

 

[lukefox44]

@MShing Congrats on the new job, after initially finding it frustrating the massive gulf in quality between the foreign players and the Chinese lads makes it really fun. Anyone who is pacey or strong just dominates physically, I had Salamon Rondon up front with 16 strength and there wasnt a single chinese defender he couldnt bully.

 

[jcricky]

VPS - 2021

Just a quick update, I made some transfers and god knows what happened. We just weren't playing well and with the pressure mounting on me, I decided to resign before I was sacked. We're on the look out for another job, I didn't even get a coaching badge so be interesting to see where I end up.

 Season    Club               Division       League     Cups                           Notes
                                                        1st    2nd    Cont    CWC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020		VPS				Finland 2		   7th		N/A	   N/A	  N/A	  N/A	   Joined with 5 games to go team in relegation zone
2021		VPS				Finland 2		   10th*	N/A	   N/A	  N/A	  N/A	   Left after 10 games

 

[danielclouston1]

Season 2021-2022

Shaanxi Chang´an Athletic

So I took over at Shannxi with 19 games played and they sat 3rd in the table. My expectations from the board were to win promotion but looking at their squad I changed it to win the league as we were only 7 points behind 1st and still had to play them on the last day of the season.

 

League

We had fantastic form in the league and won 14 of our 15 games with one loss. League came down to the last day of the season with Zhejiang Greentown 1 point ahead but we were playing each other in the final game of the season.

As you can see we won 1-0 with a goal pretty much from KO. It was tight game with a lot of nail biting. So we´re promoted and into the Super League. The squad is not good enough for the step up so it is going to be whole rebuild with very little money, the board has only given me 200k transfer budget with 150k p/w wage budget. God knows how I am going to manage that. Shandong Leung sacked their manager after the last day of season and I have been linked with the job, I won´t apply for it but if they come to me then it will be something to think about. I am currently studying for my national C coaching badge and should be complete within a month.

 

 

Career Overview

 

League Challenge

 

Cup Challenge

 

Trophy Cabinet

[danielclouston1]

So I answered a media question about whether I was interested in the Shandong Leung job and stupidly said I was and they sacked me...

 

[danielclouston1]

 

Please let it be!

[danielclouston1]

 

2022 Nigeria

 

So I have been without a club for a year now but I took the Nigeria job in early 2022.  They had already qualified for the World Cup in 2022.

 

AFCON 2023 Qualifying

 

Spoiler

First up was AFCON qualifying in a group with Mali, Libya and Swaziland. It was very easy group in which we went 6 out of 6 to qualify for 2023 African Cup of Nations.

 

World Cup 2022

So the draw for the World Cup was pretty favourable, landing us in a group with Qatar, Scotland and Mexico.

Group Stage

We had an outstanding group stage that consisted of a 2-0 win against Scotland, 2-1 win against Mexico and a 0-0 draw with Qatar for us to top the group.

Spoiler

 

Second Round

Spoiler

A penalty shootout sends us into the QF of the World Cup. We should have won in normal time though, we dominated!

Quarter Final

Spoiler

We were lucky here, we only had 2 shots the whole game but Argentina gave away 2 penalties and they battered us for 90 mins.

Semi Final

Spoiler

Our luck ran out on this one and Brazil run out worthy winners. 3rd place playoff vs Panama though.

3rd Place

Spoiler

We should have won this by 5 or 6 but I´ll take any win.

Final

Spoiler

What a tournament. We exceeded expectations by getting to the SF but the media had us predicted to get to the QF. Time to find a club job while I wait out AFCON 2023

 

Domestic Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Domestic Cup Challenge

International Career Overview

Trophy Cabinet

 

 

Edited November 29, 2020 by danielclouston1

[MShing]

11 hours ago, lukefox44 said:

@MShing Congrats on the new job, after initially finding it frustrating the massive gulf in quality between the foreign players and the Chinese lads makes it really fun. Anyone who is pacey or strong just dominates physically, I had Salamon Rondon up front with 16 strength and there wasnt a single chinese defender he couldnt bully.

 

Thanks mate. Just finding building my squad frustrating at the moment. With registration restrictions, I can only register 3 foreigners and I can only sign 2 players over 21 and there are not any half decent Chinese players who are under 21.

Stupidly I had arranged 3 transfers months before i had any news of our failure in ffp one of them was my quality 15 now 16 year old midfielder I signed for Supersport. Who looks like he will not be able to be registered

Edited November 29, 2020 by MShing

[libbyshuss]

2 hours ago, danielclouston1 said:

So I have been without a club for a year now but I took the Nigeria job in early 2022.

welcome to the club! congrats on the world cup performance. I'm about to start my first ACON with them...

[libbyshuss]

22 minutes ago, MShing said:

Stupidly I had arranged 3 transfers months before i had any news of our failure in ffp one of them was my quality 15 now 16 year old midfielder I signed for Supersport. Who looks like he will not be able to be registered

not only does he look an amazing player, he has an amazing name as well!

[lukefox44]

6 hours ago, MShing said:

Thanks mate. Just finding building my squad frustrating at the moment. With registration restrictions, I can only register 3 foreigners and I can only sign 2 players over 21 and there are not any half decent Chinese players who are under 21.

Stupidly I had arranged 3 transfers months before i had any news of our failure in ffp one of them was my quality 15 now 16 year old midfielder I signed for Supersport. Who looks like he will not be able to be registered

That kid looks phenomenal. Shame he cant be registered. In the mid season transfer window you can register two more foreign players(if you have space) Just good to know incase one of your foreign lads isn't performing, can unregister one or two and replace them.

Yeah the chinese lads are either not very good or way way too expensive.

Have a look at a guy called Li Sirong, i think it is, check my update if it's not. He's a chinese centre back who plays for Den Haag, he cost me less than 200k and is actually pretty decent,under 21 as well.

[danielclouston1]

So I won the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria and we're up to 10th in the world however I've taken the decision to start over again. I've now been 3 years (now in Feb 2024, last club 2021) without a club a job and I think mistakes I made in my previous club jobs (quitting and getting sacked) have stopped clubs employing me. I've done everything, chopped and changed playable leagues and even teams in 2nd Finland etc aren't willing to employ me. Lessons learned. Will set it up again tonight at work and post profile etc then.

[vikeologist]

18 minutes ago, danielclouston1 said:

So I won the African Cup of Nations with Nigeria and we're up to 10th in the world however I've taken the decision to start over again. I've now been 3 years (now in Feb 2024, last club 2021) without a club a job and I think mistakes I made in my previous club jobs (quitting and getting sacked) have stopped clubs employing me. I've done everything, chopped and changed playable leagues and even teams in 2nd Finland etc aren't willing to employ me. Lessons learned. Will set it up again tonight at work and post profile etc then.

Bear in mind that having a national job has (in past versions) made it more difficult to get a club job.

Of course, I have no idea how this year's version works.

[danielclouston1]

11 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

Bear in mind that having a national job has (in past versions) made it more difficult to get a club job.

Of course, I have no idea how this year's version works.

I've not had FM for about 5 versions or something mate so that's news to me, cheers 👍 I'm still going to start over, kinda lost interest in the save when I've went 3 years without a club job. Learnt from mistakes I may have made first time round, all a learning curve.

[libbyshuss]

ACON 2027 - Nigeria

FInally we're here! We qualified so easily that we're one of the clear favourites for the Cup. Our opening group is not a bad one, only Cameroon look like they may give us a game

Group Stage

Spoiler

 

well, that was ridiculously easy!

The Cameroon game was really one sided in the end, they couldn;t get close to us. We were great

 

 

Second Round

Spoiler

 

So the second round was quite good to us, giving us a far weaker side in Zimbabwe. They're ranked something like 80 in the world, they shouldn't stand a chance

And they didn't, 7-0 was flattering to them if anything. 

 

Quarter Final

Spoiler

 

So here was our first real test of the tournament, a half decent Ghana side. We played well again. we really did! But.....

so that's that...

 

Semi Final

Spoiler

Final

 

Spoiler

 

Conclusion

Spoiler

 

 

Sacked!!! with an 82% win rate as well! But if you don't win when it really matters......  So I have no idea where I'll go next. My international management career is so poor next to club management. It's a tough old world out there

 

 

[vikeologist]

@libbyshuss I really don;' believe the game inflicts narratives, but oh boy, that coasting through an ACON and then hitting a brick wall is certainly a familiar story to me.

[libbyshuss]

6 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

really don;' believe the game inflicts narratives, but oh boy, that coasting through an ACON and then hitting a brick wall is certainly a familiar story to me

I'm starting to see how this challenge can take so long now. 

 

[Bucs1211]

So I decided to start this challenge up myself!!

It took till almost February to find a job but I was finally offered the AmaTuks job ( South African National First Division ). They fired the previous manager while on a 6 match unbeaten run. The team itself isn't that bad. Defensively they are a wreck up with the attack up front we have a chance to make a run! Im a few games in at the moment and we've continued to win... besides my first game where we lost 0-3 and then getting knocked out of the SA Cup.

 

 

[danielclouston1]

So I started my new save, set up below:

 

 

Season 2020

 

Started my career with FC Edmonton in the Canadian Premier League and they immediately let me study for my National C coaching badge. We started off the season superbly with 6 wins and 1 draw in the first group stage of the league, finishing top. We went into the champions group full of confidence and ended up winning 2 and losing 1 in the champions group stage, qualifying for the final against York9.

We became Canadian champions after a hard fought win on penalties. First title in the bag. On to season 2.

Domestic Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Career Record

Trophy Cabinet

[danielclouston1]

Season 2021

 

Canadian Premier League

We topped both the Spring and Fall versions of the CPL to finish 1st overall and setting up a final against Valour which we won to become back to back champions. I don´t particularly like the set up of the CPL and feel there is too many games too close together and not a big enough squad so there was some heavy rotation often and it caused us to draw far more games that I would like. I suppose drawing is better than losing though, eh.

 

Canadian Championship (FA Cup)

This is a competition I had written off because the Canadian MLS teams also enter it and I figured I would need to get past two or three of them to win. Turns out I only needed to beat one because my fellow CPL teams dispatched of the others for me. So I ended up winning this too.

 

North American League

I was very surprised at the poor standard of quality in this tournament considering it is the North American version of the Europa League. As it were, no team really challenged me and we looked like winning the competition from the very start. It´s good to get my first continental trophy under my belt, even if it isn´t one that counts for the challenge.

 

Moving On

The board has let me go on 3 coaching courses throughout 2021 and I now have the Continental C badge, which is why I feel bad about leaving now. We did qualify for the CL however we don´t stand any chance of winning it so I kinda feel like it would be a wasted year as I can´t achieve anything else in Canada. I´m going to sit tight and try find a job in Mexico or something-

 

Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Domestic Cup Challenge

Career Record

Trophy Cabinet

[Danny_H22]

2023 Season Review

 

With three years in Canada under my belt, it was finally time to pack and move on to ventures new and I had a few options to pick from. BATE wanted me, but I turned them down in favour of Finnish giants HJK.

They hadn’t won the league for a number of years, but I was confident that with a few additions, I could definitely be pushing for the title within a year or two. I splashed the cash to bring in Jordan Hamilton from former club Edmonton, as well as spending a further 600k on three new defenders. These signings were reenforced with former Spurs keeper Brandon Austin who followed on a freebie

 

Veikkausliga: Despite clearly improving the squad in every aspect, we really did struggle with consistency at the start of the season – dropping points in 5 out of our first ten games before only losing once in the remaining 19 games. It really was our latter season form that saw us break away from the chasing pack and in the end, we had enough about us to finish 9 points ahead of FC Ilves and win the title for the first time since 2018.

Suomen Cuo: Keen to avoid another Edmonton situation, I really wanted to wrap this cup up first season.  Luckily, we did just that; beating PEPO, FF Jaro and IFK Mariehamn on the way to a final against RoPS who did nothing as we put 3 past them.

UEFA Europa Conference League: I didn’t go into this competition with any aspirations of success, but we did better than the board expected. Starting the campaign with a 19-0 win over Vushtrria was a nice start, and following it up with 8-2 over Debreceni VSC booked our spot in the 3^rd qualifying round.

This round saw us hit our first roadblock, as FK Kairat held us to a 1-1 at their place before we rallied the troops and took the home tie 3-1. Up next, IFK Norrkoping who would prove a lot tougher than any of our previous opponents – beating us 2-0 over two legs and freeing up our fixture list for the foreseeable future.

 

Top Goalscorer: When I took over HJK, Eetu Vertainen had never scored more than 8 goals in a season. Well this season he did a bit better than that, scoring 34 in 35 starts.

Honourable mention to Jordan Hamilton who I stole away from former club Edmonton; 39 starts and 27 goals for the targetman.

Most Assists: For the past three seasons, my wingers had been paramount to how I played, but they struggled to get going this season, with the ball being played through the middle more so that before. This favoured playmaker Rasmus Schuller who chipped in with 10 assists in 23 starts.

Highest Ave. Rating: When you score nearly a goal a game, you are very likely to finish with the highest average rating and that is exactly what happened with Eetu Vertainen who managed a 7.54

Most POTM: Jordan Hamilton was so important to my success at Edmonton and he continued that this season, picking up 9 POTM awards

 

International: My time at UAE has come to an end, but it proved to be somewhat successful. We breezed our Asian Cup group stage, beating Bahrain and Iraq before drawing with Kyrgyzstan – setting up a tasty tie against Vietnam. A late goal in the first half really helped settle the boys and we eventually ran out 3-0 winners. Up next, our toughest matchup against Australia. We left it late, but an 80^th minute equaliser took them to extra-time were we snatched a 112^th minute winner to book our place in the semi-final!

Japan were our opponents but we just didn’t have the depth or quality to match them and they strolled to a 3-1 win to send us home. We defied the odds to reach the semi-final, but it was a shame to come that close to our first international final.

In the aftermath of the Asian Cup, two interesting international roles became available; South Korea and our quarter-final opponents Australia. South Korea wanted nothing to do with me, but the Socceroos offered me a job and I took it. UAE may have gotten the best of them in the Asian Cup, but Australia are clearly the better team and would have a better chance at reaching the World Cup and potentially winning the next Asian Cup.

 

Next Season Plan: I came, I saw, I conquered. After staying in Edmonton for a year too long, I made back that time here in Finland so will be leaving them with a squad in much better condition that when I took over. I have already been offered and accepted my next role and it should be fun

 

Season	Team              Position    Continental                                Notes and Achievements     
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020	FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Manager of the Year
2021	FC Edmonton       1st         Lost Scotiabank CONCACAF League Final      Won Manager of the Year
2022    FC Edmonton       1st         Won Scotiabank CONCACAF League             Won Amway Championship. Won Manager of the Year
2023	HJK               1st         Europa Conference League 4th Qual.         Won Suomen Cup

Challenge Progress

Club
2/10 top domestic leagues: Canadian Premier League Island Games (FC Edmonton, 2020); Veikkausliga (HJK, 2023)
2/10 domestic cups: Amway Canadian Championship (FC Edmonton, 2022); Suomen Cup (HJK, 2023)
0/5 club continental championships:
0/1 club world championship:

International
0/5 continental tournaments:
0/2 world tournaments:

International:
Season     Team              Notes and Achievements     
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020       Russia U19s
2020       Israel
2021       Israel
2022       UAE
2023       UAE                Asian Cup Semi-final
2023       Australia

 

[libbyshuss]

Season 7 (2026/27)

Arsenal

League

I had to sell a couple of my older squad members because they wanted Champions League Football, but I got over 50m for both which did mean I had a huge transfer budget. So I went shopping for wonderkids! i got 4, 3 from Belgium (not Anderlecht though, all from Club Brugges) and 1 from Brazil, to bring my wonderkid total up to 7. I also brought in 33 year old Paul Pogba and 34 year old Mo Salah for experience. And, to be honest, only two of my signings could be said to be unqualified sucessess. I ended up relying heavily on players who were already at the club when I took over.

We started the new season as we'd finished the last and were fighting with Chelsea and Man City over the first few weeks. But then December came and we lost three i a row. That put us behind the front two and we were never able to catch up from there. But our good form through the rest of the season meant we finished third and back in the Champions League.

The main reason why we got there? One of my wonderkid signings from Brugges:-

 

Spoiler

 

49 goals in 47 games! an absolute bargain at only 36m. He was a bit of a risk as he'd only had one full season at Brugges but his attributes looked pretty, pretty good. If we are to push for the title next season then he'll be absolutely key

Cups

Disappointing. After going out early doors to Newcastle on penalties in the league cup we had to focus on the FA Cup. A fifth round tie at Derby saw us play appallingly and be knocked out by them for the second season running. Really annoying.

Continental Cup

We just made the Europa League on the last day of last season. We were great all the way through, albeit having lucky draws to help, and managed to get through to the final, where.....

Another title! but another title that doesn't count towards the challenge. Still, a European trophy isn't too shabby!

 

Career Summary

Challenge Summary

 

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by libbyshuss

[Bucs1211]

End of the 2020/21 Season

 

 

 

The season was a MASSIVE success!!! We were able to keep the good form I was hired into for the entire second half of the season. This helped push us from 8th place to 2nd and then to dominate the playoff mini league and get promoted to the premier league. We did as well as we possibly could with the talent we had we just went on a run and didn't look back.

Being successful in the South African Premier League is going to be a REAL challenge. AmaTuks will need depth almost everywhere and we will need to address the defense as it was a major weakness in the national league. The aim is to finish mid-table... anything more would be a a hell of an accomplishment.

Ill be actively looking for better jobs as I build up AmaTuks for the upcoming season. If I can go to a  more established team in South Africa or in another league I will jump on the opportunity asap.

 

Ill be back with a recap of this coming season!!

[MoonMonster]

This is my first post on these forums and wow have I chosen quite a challenge to kick things off! 

 

 

 

 

I started this with all three North American nations loaded and the six South American nations loaded. Sadly my local club aren't in the game because I feel a lower league job in the US would be the most realistic. There weren't many available jobs to begin with and the ones that were all turned me down. I was beginning to wonder if loading only North and South America was a mistake.

 

After two months of hitting continue, applying for every job that came available and waiting for some board members just drunk enough to hire a 19 year old American with no experience, I was finally offered an interview with Dorados de Sinaloa in the Mexican second division.

 

And they gave me the job! So I will be visiting Mexico for the third time in my life.

 

 

They also want to sign Ecuadorian players which is interesting

 

 

I join the club 8 games into the season. We were predicted to finish 7th and currently sit 12th and to be honest I have no idea how most of the leagues in North and South America work so this should be interesting.

 

[libbyshuss]

2 hours ago, MoonMonster said:

This is my first post on these forums and wow have I chosen quite a challenge to kick things off! 

welcome aboard! good luck in Mexico!

[vikeologist]

@MoonMonster Welcome to the challenge. I've started this challenge numerous times, and I still have no idea how Mexico works, (the continental qualification anyway). 

[Steve Cobble]

Have they fixed the reputation/higher jobs being offered? Starting in the second division of certain countries is really off-putting and will lead to it being a breeze tbh if you can be in the premiership within 5 years 🤷🏻‍♂️

[vikeologist]

47 minutes ago, Steve Cobble said:

Have they fixed the reputation/higher jobs being offered? Starting in the second division of certain countries is really off-putting and will lead to it being a breeze tbh if you can be in the premiership within 5 years 🤷🏻‍♂️

I think that it is harder to get a English Championship job, but if you are unemployed for a long time, the game may throw you a bone.

These are guesses. SI are being a little bit obtuse about how that part of the game works, but it seemed harder to me getting a really good first job on the full release.

As I've said before, it's not entirely a new thing. In FM20, for my second job, I was turned down by Championship sides, but then offered a job with a Premier League one.

If it's going to ruin the challenge for you, just decide a limit of how good a first job you will apply for or accept. I'd suggest deciding on a star limit. For instance no club with more than (x) star limit. It may only be certain clubs making crazy appointments.

[pug 407]

Pug's Update

So I Got Offered And Took The Job At Ansan (Contract). They Were Sitting Bottom With 7 Games To Go (Table). I Didn't Have

To Worry About Relegation, Because No Team Gets Relegated. After Looking At The Squads I Fit The Players Into How I Wanted To Play. The One Thing I Didn't Understand About The Last Manager Was He Had 5 Off There Best Players In The Reserves. So With That I brought Them Back Into The Folded. The First Game Was Against Top Of The Table Side Deajeon And A 3-0 Loss. After That We Played 3rd Place Jeju And A Lucky 1-0 Win. The Last 5 Games We Drew 1 And Won 4 To Finish 7th.(Table 2) (Results)(Results 2)  Also I Got To Take My 1st (Badge)

)

 Challenge Progress.
  -------------------

Club
----
0/10 Top Domestic Leagues
0/10 Top Domestic Cups   
0/5  Continental Cups    
0/1  Club World Cup      

International
-------------
0/5  Continental Tournaments 
0/2  World Tournaments     

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                       -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                               1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont    CWC                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020       Ansan                                                                       Finished 7th
                                                                                     
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                   --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                         World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                       -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                               1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont    CWC                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020       Ansan                                                                       Finished 7th
                                                                                     
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                   INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                   --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                         World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by pug 407
Update

[vikeologist]

People seem to feel that there's a bug related to youth intakes; namely no players being generated from non-loaded leagues.

Maybe the fix will be save game compatible, and maybe adding leagues resolves the problem, but given that after about 30 seasons, the number of manageable nations in Africa and Asia has decreased in the past (because not enough players are being generated), this could be a problem.

It could be a problem for club football as well. Anybody who's say 5 years into their save or has added and removed leagues a few times should look at the number of players in manageable teams in added nations, and the number of manageable international sides.

If you're going to come up against a save killing bug, best to identify it as soon as possible.

Weighed against this is the fact that faced with even the most minor of bugs, there are lots of people who throw their dolly out of the pram, and wail about the game being unplayable.

[Crispypaul]

  

  

    

Crispypaul
Levanger
Norwegian 1st Division
2022

League - Season Review 1 - Season Review 2 - a shock as we lift the title on the last day

Norwegian Cup  - Fixtures - Bodo/Glimt knock us out in the 4th round

Finances - very comfortable although I am not convinced the sponsorship is realistic

Transfers 

Key players:

Emanuel Vladic - prolific again

Jeppe Schultz - another good season

Noah Iversen - good season too

Casper Hauervig - decent enough but probably not good enough for the top division

Future - I have extended my contract another year.  Got all the national licences now doing Continental C.  Reputation now at 50% which seems quicker than FM20?

Domestic
Season	 Team			Division		Position			Notes						
2021    Levanger       		Norwegian 2nd  	 	 1st				Champions, Promoted
2022	Levanger		Norwegian 1st		 1st				Champions, Promoted



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 

[darren1983]

Gonna give this another go. Again. Profile.

Took some time but have gone my usual path of South Africa to start. FS Stars have taken a chance on me. Currently 8th, 7 points off the final playoff spot with 10 games to go. Aim for these games is to figure out the side and build from there over the summer.

[Siepe1990]

Season 6 (2025/2026)

So, my second season in charge of Crystal Palace. Didn't really want to stay, because I think the club just doesn't have the 'overall build' to enable winning the Premier League anytime soon (as compared to let's say Everton or Tottenham). But, since I got a few interviews and no takers, I decided to give it a go. Spent my entire transfer fund strengthening my defense, buying a new DC, DL and DR for a grand total of 60 million. Managed to hold on to all my key players of the previous season, so was actually pretty pleased at the start of the season.

Didn't have the best start in the League, losing 2 and drawing 3 in the first 7. The Europa League handed me a decent challenge with Celtic and Sporting CP, so I had to work hard to get to the next round. Got knocked out of the EFL by Leceister - shame, would have been a nice opportunity for a 'real' prize - but we picked up the pace in the League, so when winter came, we were back op to 6th - already 14 points trailing the top position. At that moment... I couldn't help but notice the infamous Jose Mourinho getting sacked... I jumped on the vacancy immediately, got the interview... and the job...

Napoli, a fallen giant who, after succes in the 90s with the late great Diego Armando Maradona, only in the last decade started to perform to a decent standard again. However, in-game, they still haven't won the Scudetto and found themselves on a lousy 16th place in the League, with only 15 points from 16 matches. Mourinho spent a little over 250 million (!!!) in the summer transfer period, overhauling the squad completely (he sold for nearly 200 million as well, so at least there was some balance). The squad was really decent, which makes me wonder how on earth he managed to get only 15 points out of a possible 48...

After reviewing the squad, I decided to switch Formation. Until now, I had played 4-2-4 Wide with all my teams, switching to 4-1-2-3 Wide DM when facing tough opponents. Napoli however possessed several strong CBs, a strong attacking LB and no outstanding players on the offensive wings. Put it all together, and my new 5-2-1-2 Formation was born. Obviously, it took the players a while to get used to the new Formation and the new Tactic. Results varied all through January and February, but in the last 3 months, we won 10 out of 14, losing only 2. This of course saw us shooting up the table, finishing a decent 6th, qualifying for the Europa League Group Stage, defying expectations set upon my hiring (top half).

Spoiler

Cup-wise we were still in the Europe League. With the matches not starting until the 2nd half of February, my team was used to the new Formation and performed admirably. We smashed Valencia in the First KO-round and went on the easily beat TSG Hoffenheim in the Second. The Quarter Final saw us coming up against Red Bull Leipzig. Sadly, we lost that encounter, being outplayed all over the pitch in the first match. The Domestic Cup hadn't even started yet when I took over ; we managed to get to the Semi's, getting beaten by Milan, so no shame there.

Very curious what the next season will bring. I have got some decent transfer funds available, which I will probably boost by selling some high-valued bench-warmers. So I can improve the squad, whilst hoping to hang on to the European Golden Shoe winner (Troy Parrott) and the very talented Wilfried Gnonto (his partner-in-crime up front).

International

2026 brought me to the World Cup with England, my first real tournament in charge. Sadly, we lost Sterling through injury, but luckily the offensive quality in England is insane, so I managed to replace him easily. We smashed Panama and Qatar in the pre-friendlies (10-0 and 8-0) and did the same in our two group matches (Honduras 4-0 and Iran 7-0). The Second Round pitted us against Uruguay. After a tough start, we ran out clear winners, beating them 5-1. The Third Round draw finally gave us a challenge: Italy!  Everybody was uninjured, no suspensions, so I started my strongest 11... and then this happened:

Still pisses me off in a big way when I look at it. Look at that xG: 3.58! And scoring only once... whilst Italy score 3 with an xG 1.50... Baffled as to how we didn't win this one. So, luckily, the FA decided getting knocked out by Italy was not a hanging offense, so I'm still on the job, en-route to the European Championship of 2028...

Career Overview

 

 

 

[jcricky]

Cavalry FC - 2021

After my departure from VPS I wasn't out of a job for long. I had a few job interviews, mostly in the lower leagues of Scandanavia, before I took a punt at applying for the side bottom of the Canadian Premier League. They must have been impressed with my ability to pull a team away from the bottom of the league when I was VPS as they hired me. On an even better note I realised that the team who wins each phase goes to the final, so I knew we'd have a chance in the Fall Season. As you can see the team had an awful start, with one point from 6 games, but since then had enjoyed an upturn in form. Despite that when I took over we were still bottom of the league, at least we couldn't get relegated though!

 

 

The squad was pretty strong I thought, and only needed a few players in key positions. A new spine mostly, I targeted a new centre half, central midfielder and an attacking midfielder. But, as always when you join a club mid season, we had very little room to manoeuvre in the market. We managed to bring in Canadian international Liam Fraser on a free transfer, as our new Ball winning midfielder, to play alongside Carmargo, our Mezzala. Matthew Srbely came in as a back up central midfielder on loan, this was a gamble that didn't really pay off as he only appeared 4 times. Kim Kyu-Hyung was another loanee, from Dinamo Zagreb, we paid absolutely nothing for him and he was incredible for us, 4 goals and 4 assists in 12 games and linked up well with our striker Bosua, who scored 14 goals in 12 games. Shaffelburg and Acuna came in to bolster the wide positions, Acuna started most games until an injury 57 seconds into the final, Shaffelburg was more of a reserve who appeared a couple of times. Gianfranco Facchineri also arrived on loan and ended up winning the U21 Canadian Player of the Year, pretty impressive for a central defender.

Fall Season

I don't really have much to say other than we were brilliant... in the first half of games anyway. We'd be 2 or 3 goals up with 10 minutes to go and only just scraping through with all 3 points. Despite that we managed to qualify for the final, amassing 33 points from the 42 on offer, losing only one game. We ended up going out of the Canadian Championship to MLS side Tornoto, prior to any transfer business. Another plus was that we actually ended up finishing top of the overall table, mostly due to Forge FC winning the Spring Season but coming last in the Fall Season.

 

 

This meant we went into the final on great form against a terribly out of form Forge FC who we had beat, 6-1 and 2-1 in the Fall Season. Form played a big part as we went into the final and smashed Forge 7-3 on aggregate, meaning the first trophy in the challenge. My plan next? I'll probably stick around for another season and play in the Europa League equivalent, maybe try and win the Canadian Cup before we move onto pastures new.

 

 

Season    	Club               Division       League     Cups                           Notes
                                                        1st    2nd    Cont    CWC
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020		VPS				Finland 2		   7th		N/A	   N/A	  N/A	  N/A	   Joined 5 games to go team in relegation zone
2021		VPS				Finland 2		   10th*	N/A	   N/A	  N/A	  N/A	   Left after 10 games
2021	 Cavalry FC			Canada 1		   1st		1/4	   N/A	  N/A	  N/A	   Joined when bottom, First Trophy

Challenge Progress
1/10 Leagues - Canadian Premier League (Cavalry	FC, 2021)
0/10 Cups		
0/5  Continental	
0/1  Worlds

0/5 Continental 	
0/1 Worlds

 

[Patrick69]

I finally have installed FM2021 and so it is time to start this challenge again. So now and then I will use prinstscreens in my updates but most of the time it will be text.

Manager : Patrick van Dijk

Date of Birth : 14 January 2020

Nationality : Dutch

 

Coaching badges : None

Past Playing Experience : Sunday League Footballer

 

Employed : Unemployed

 

Game set-up:

Africa : -

Asia : -

Europe : England, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scotland, Republc of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, Canada

North America : -

South America : -

 

Of all these countries, I will use only the 2 highest divisions (if more are available). Except for England I will load all available divisions. During this challenge, I will add and delete countries and maybe also lower divisions. There will be 2 countries that will never be removed (England / Holland) but at some points only the 2 highest divisions will be playable.

 

Clubs without a manager at the start of the game: Waterford FC, Chesterfield, Wigan Athletic, Derby County, FC Dordrecht, Fortuna Sittard

 

I will not apply for a job at the clubs mentioned above as long as the have not hired a new manager to fill in the current job option.

I will use a diary style to add certain events happening during the game and especially while I am without a job. At the start of each month, I will give an update of possible jobs available. Once I am employed, Also once I am emplyed, I will enter important events at the club (this will not include matches played).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Patrick69

[MoonMonster]

Dorados de Sinaloa

Season 1 - Apertura 2020

I figured I would do a write up at the end of the Apertura season due to how the Mexican leagues work.

When I joined Dorado on September 22, 2020 I quickly realized why they were sitting in 12th place with only one win all season. 

The Squad

This squad was made up of 11 loan players, which I soon learned was somewhat common in the Expansion League. The distribution of positions was absurd as well with 6 strikers, one fullback only 3 wingers and very little versatility among a lot of the players. We also had five really good players out on loan for some reason

I was in charge for seven matches before we had the playoffs, where we knocked out in the quarter-finals. Overall with the squad I had, I was pretty pleased with the three wins we achieved

Table

Fixtures

Playoffs

My board...not so much. I don't think I've ever seen an "E" rating before lol. Thankfully I wasn't sacked and was even allowed to go on a coaching course.

For the Clausura season I need to try to revamp my squad as much as I can. Hopefully adding proper fullbacks and trimming down on my strikers. Sadly one of our best players, Michael Perez, didn't want to come back on loan so I'll need another good defensive mid.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2020 by MoonMonster

[danielclouston1]

Season 2021-2022

After my time in Canada I took over as Pumas (Mexico) manager for the Liga Mx Clausura. The team had under performed badly in the Apertura however the squad was fairly decent and with a transfer budget of 17million I brought in an Advance Forward (ST), Regista (DM) and a Ball Playing Defender to reinforce my squad and to implement my tactics as these 3 are vital. The board were kind enough to let me study for my Continental B coaching badge.

Liga Mx Clausura

During the league stage we were superb winning 13, drawing 2 and losing 2 while scoring and absolute barrel load in the process. We then breezed through the quarter and semi finals of the knockout stage. A 2-1 first leg victory in the final put us on good stead to win the competition outright and bag me my second top league victory towards the challenge however it wasn´t to be. Our worst performance of the season ended in us conceding a last minute extra-time goal to lose the tie, absolutely gutted. We did get CONCACAF Champions League qualification though and the boards minimum expectation for that is for us to win it so we´re with a good shout of our first continental title for the challenge. A 20mil transfer war chest also means we will be in good shape to win the 22-23 Apertura season.

Copa Mx

We had the easiest run to the final you could imagine. Every team we played were in the bottom half of the league table. We won the final with 5-0 thumping of Club America. At least we got some silverware this season, and especially since CL qualification means we don´t enter it next season.

 

Career Overview

Domestic League Challenge

Domestic Cup Challenge

Career Record

Trophy Cabinet

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by danielclouston1

[vikeologist]

@danielclouston1Every team you met was in the bottom half of the table, because clubs in continental competitions aren't in the cup. It still counts though, because it's the only cup in Mexico. 

Good job you won it, because you probably won't be in it next time. 

[danielclouston1]

52 minutes ago, vikeologist said:

@danielclouston1Every team you met was in the bottom half of the table, because clubs in continental competitions aren't in the cup. It still counts though, because it's the only cup in Mexico. 

Good job you won it, because you probably won't be in it next time. 

There was a couple teams who were in and around the top 6 of the league who were in the cup but they were put out by others.

[Crispypaul]

After spending time going through Norway's customary, ludicrously long pre season a few days before our first Eliteserien game I have a new job

AEK Athens in the Greek Superleague.  What particularly interested me is the season is playing out and we're only two points from top spot so there's a chance of scabbing a league win

The squad is bloated and the finances are a mess - it looks like AEK had a good European run in 2021/22 in the ECL, spent all the prize money then crashed out in the qualifiers so I need to sort the squad out in the summer.  

[joehelsing1]

Just started this challenge and as many have, I started out with FC Edmonton. 

I was predicted a finish of 6th at the beginning of the season and 6 games in I have dominated every game not conceding a single goal. I have played FM/CM since CM3 and never really ventured out of England before. Are all obscure leagues this easy? I feel like I have been way too dominant for a team which was not predicted to challenge for the title.

I'll do a full season review at the end of the season.

[jcricky]

Anybody else struggling with getting their first coaching badge? I was a bit impatient the first times I asked, as I asked during the season and they said they needed my presence at training. But after just winning the league I asked to start the coaching course and the board said no as that makes me more appealing to better teams. Never had this before and just wondering if anybody else has had it

[danielclouston1]

2 hours ago, joehelsing1 said:

Just started this challenge and as many have, I started out with FC Edmonton. 

I was predicted a finish of 6th at the beginning of the season and 6 games in I have dominated every game not conceding a single goal. I have played FM/CM since CM3 and never really ventured out of England before. Are all obscure leagues this easy? I feel like I have been way too dominant for a team which was not predicted to challenge for the title.

I'll do a full season review at the end of the season.

I found Canada was ridiculously easy. The league is in its first couple seasons of existence though so the quality isn't great. A decent tactic and you're on to a winner.

[libbyshuss]

36 minutes ago, jcricky said:

Anybody else struggling with getting their first coaching badge?

i did at first. I found if I asked while we were on a really good run they were much more likely to say yes.

[libbyshuss]

After being sacked by Nigeria it took a while but I'm finally back. Time for another crack at the ACON, this time with:-

 

Third time lucky with a national side?

 

[darren1983]

FS Stars - Season 2020/21 - South African Championship

League - took over with 10 games to go sitting in 8th, 6 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses saw us finish 5th, I'll take that, 3 of the 4 games we dropped points in were against the 3 times that finished directly above us. Board want top 3 next season so pressure could be on.

Nedbank Cup - Was still in this when I took over and had a good run to the quarter finals after beating 2 sides from the Premier League, we of course lost to a side near the bottom of our own league who also had 2 men sent off. Annoying

Squad - lopsided squad with lots of forwards and not many CMs. Thankfully I can shift on many of these players these summer thanks to the one year contract rules. Some good young players in the squad though, who I shall look to build around.

Finances - not great but not bad, especially for this level

Transfers - all of these were before I took over

Career Progress

Season		Club		Country		League		Position	Notes/Achievements 
2020/21		FS Stars	South Africa	NDF		5th 		Took over in 8th. Started 1st coaching badge

Challenge Progress

Club
0/10 top domestic leagues (Insert nations)
0/10 domestic cups ()
0/5 club continental championships ()
0/1 club world championship

International
0/5 continental tournaments ()
0/1 world tournaments ()

 

[danielclouston1]

Season 2022-2023 Liga Mx Apertura

Well the 2022-2023 Apertura played out very similar to the 2021-2022 Clausura. We won 13, drew 2 and lost 2 in the league stage to finish top. We stuttered our way through the QF and SF stages with 1 win and 1 draw in each stage to make it to the final. Once again though, it was defeat in the final. We lost the first leg 3-1 and then drew 3-3 in the second leg to lose our second Liga Mx final in a row. The Liga Mx Clausura will give us one more chance at it because I will either win the CONCACAF CL and resign or I won´t win it and be sacked. 

Leagues Cup

I wasn´t sure what this actually was but turns out it is a 16 team tournament with teams from both Mexico and the USA. The board seen this as unimportant but we were favourites to win and we done so. It doesn´t count for any of the challenge but good for the rep.

 

Just a small note, I am also studying for the Continental A badge, but it takes 12 months. It´ll be a couple days to a week for me to complete the Clausura because I now have some days off work and won´t have time to play as much as when I am at work. I also won´t bother posting the tables I was updating until after the Clausura since it´s technically the same season and I have nothing of note to add to it.