From Iraq to the world - a build nation save - 30 Seasons in

[Ace40]

End of the Season Review 

A good season domestically was overshadowed by a terrible performance in Asia

We finally have the Iraqi NT job and can get to work to improve our stature in the game 

We are struggling to improve facilities due to lack of funds

Our reputation has increased once again, but not enough to get us to two stars. 

Will Boumsong's ridiculous numbers earned him the POTY 

[Ace40]

July to October 

A busy summer, one where we changed strategy once again

We started focusing on young Iraqi talents, as we have the money to splash around locally, and they have lower demands than established players

We got rejected by a couple of the biggest targets, but we got the rest 

The highlight for me is Alaa Abdul Hussein, who is a decent striker that happens to be 6'5 

Most CBs in Iraq are barely 6ft so we will be abusing his height for goals. 

We signed a Brazilian CB from the third division who looks to be a good player, although we had to pay 26K to get him. 

We are now predicted to finish 2nd in the league, which means we'll probably steamroll to the title 

We also climbed to 4th place in the wage spending as our squad grows larger and we continue to improve 

No change on the sponsorships

[Ace40]

''Gameplan'' Update 

 

Our ''gameplan'' has had mixed results. We managed to sell two players, but both went to Iraqi league sides, where the opportunity for our clause to be valuable is way lower 

We sold one first-team player to a Saudi League club, which did not even register him, so we sold our clause for 20K

Mbow, who we sold to the Qatari League last season, was also not registered to play but did play in the cups, and we managed to get over 100K for the clause. 

The downside is the players currently remaining in the club, we only managed to loan out one player, with 4 players rejecting various loan moves. 

We also signed two players to join the loan army, but we failed to get them loaned out.

[Ace40]

Oct to Feb 

A very good first half of the season sees us top of the league and through to the CL KO for the first time ever

We sold one of our Iraqi summer signings to a club in Qatar for 35K, and 50% of the next sale 

The focus in the transfer window will be to loan/sell the rest of our foreign youngsters

[Ace40]

Feb - June 

We make it 3 league titles in a row, finishing the season with exactly the same points as the one before

We had a miracle run in the CL where we reached the SF, but Al Nassr beat us before they themselves made it 3 continental titles in a row

Once again we got knocked out in the QF of the Iraqi FA Cup. 

We got the youth Intake, and small improvements are being seen in the caliber of players coming in but still a long way away from where we want to be 

However, we managed to upgrade the facilities that they will be using 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2027-2028

Former FA Cup champions Al Kahraba went up after a few seasons in the lowlights, joined by once giants but now yo-yo club Al Talaba 

Two irrelevant clubs went down, as Al Naft and Al Sinnat both went down

We won the Iraqi Premier League!!!!

Zakho won the FA Cup for the first time ever, beating Naft Al Basra

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

We did well to reach the SF of the Asian Champions League, becoming the first Iraqi Club  to do so since the 1970s

Al Shorta was knocked out of the ACL Qualifiers by Dubai side Shabab Al Ahli, but they made up for it by winning the AFC Cup. 

This will give them a place in the ACL qualifiers next season despite their Midtable finish  

Overall a fantastic year for our project that sees us move into 9th for the coefficient.

Starting next season we will have two teams in the Asian CL qualifiers to add to our CL GS Spot

Edited July 31, 2023 by Ace40

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2027-2028 

Our first year in charge of the NT has been underwhelming

I finally understand all the complaints about International management as it is very tedious and boring

For starters a number of players that declared for Iraq IRL still haven't been changed IG, and they refuse to entertain the notion of being called up

The tactics I use seem to work incredibly one game and be a disaster the next 

Home and Away have such a huge impact it seems. 

Nonetheless, our results in a snapshot were not terrible

SF in the Arab Cup, in which underdog Syria won the trophy 

SF in the West Asian Championship, which was won by Saudi Arabia 

Into the final round of WCQ 

However when you inspect the results, you will see we were beaten by any good opposition and got some lucky draws to our two 4th place finishes 

 

[Ace40]

End of Season Review 

A season where a number of major milestones were hit 

2-star reputation for the first time. 2-star Youth facilities, 2.5 stars recruitment 

9th in Coeffeciant, 

Will Boumsong put up these ridiculous numbers in only 21 games as he missed much of the season. Delany, despite having more modest numbers, gets the nod for POTY due to stepping up during Boumang's abscence 

[Ace40]

July to October 

We made a couple of big sales, most notably the sale of POTY Campbell Delany to the Qatari side Al Khor 

On the other hand, we made some signings but I'm not happy about them. Pre-season has shown me that I haven't strengthened the squad well enough and I don't expect a similar campaign in Asia 

Most notable disappointment is Egyptian CAM Mira, who I didn't even register due to his poor performances, and I ended up registering one of the players intended for the loan army 

Pre-season expectation shows us in first, and I don't see us facing trouble in the league 

We move on to sixth for sponsorship income in a big jump. 

We are still behind in terms of salary spend, but the wage budget is rising

[Ace40]

''Gameplan Update''

We lost out on the clause for Sarr as he left for a loss from Al Qasim 

Domestic clubs are really bad at selling players so we are moving to include a % of sale as opposed to profit 

We cash in on the clause for Mohammed Kazem as he went unregistered for the new season in Qatar 

We make a sale to a club in Colombia which is pretty cool 

We make a huge sale in Delany to Al Khor, 115K, and 50% of the next sale. It's still a steal as he is immediately valued at750k-8Mil, and has a 5 Mil release clause

Hopefully, he makes a quick jump to another club and we get our payday. He has done decent in his first few games 

[Ace40]

Oct-Feb

A big six months of the season as we absolutely smash our club record sales. 

Goal machine Will Ma Bamsoung has left for Al Taawoun for 1.2, rising to 1.6M and 30% of the profit of the next sale

We immediately spent that on a training facilities upgrade. 

It was heartbreak in the CL as we finished third tied on points with 10 and got knocked out in the GS 

In the league, there is a title race brewing between us and Al Zawra'a 

The focus is on replacing Will Ma and getting some more players for the loan army with our new warchest 

[Ace40]

Feb to June 

We cruised our way to a 4th successive league title. 

Once again, we fail to go past the FA Cup QF as we lost on penalties to Al Zawra'a 

We sold another one of our players to Saudi which will fund a youth facility upgrade 

Youth Intake has a couple of promising players, Ali Agazely was upgraded to an Elite talent in the assman's eyes after the friendly 

 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2028-2029

Two teams from Basra, Al Mina'a and Naft Basra were relegated 

Amanat Baghdad went up with Karbala 

We won the Iraqi Premier League!!!!

Al Quwa Al Jawiya beat Newroz in the final of the FA Cup

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

A tough elimination for us as we finished with 10 points but it was not enough to get out of the GS. Qatari side Al Sadd won the CL

Naft al Wasat also had a heartbreaking campaign, losing the zonal SF on away goals

We were poised to move into 8th in the coefficient, but Al Sadd's unlikely victory means we stay behind Qatar for now 

Overall not a bad year 

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2028-2029

A fantastic year in charge of the Iraqi NT 

We reach the Gulf Cup final before narrowly losing to the U.A.E 

We qualify directly to the World cup without having to go through the playoff

We jump 10 spots into 59th on the world 

[Ace40]

End-of-Season Review 

Another good season and the pace of improvements is picking up now

The reputation went up but not enough to get us to 2,5 

We got the training facilities upgraded, and the youth facilities upgrade will kick next season 

Youth recruitment is maxed out 

We reached the highest ranking the NT has seen this  save 

We broke the Million mark in transfer fees for a player and also reached 100K in fees paid for a player on Camara, a player I brought in during the winter window 

POTY goes to our 6'5 monster Alaa Abdul Hussein, he has improved so much this season and has a lot more than just heading ability 

[Ace40]

Huge Sale 

From spending 50K on this guy because I wanted a tall striker to getting 4.7M and 50% of next sale! 

The first bid came in was for 30K and we managed to get it all the way up. 

I think I have been wasting my time investing in midfielders and defenders, all the big fees we received is in the strikers 

[Ace40]

July to October 

After a very busy summer transfer window where we earned 5.5 Million, we get ready for the start of the new season

We have made plenty of signings, and I had to leave out two players. After much deliberation, I decide to go with the club record signing Camara and one of the players who I failed to get a loan move for 

I may live to regret it as they performed well in pre-season but I have other priorities 

We are second in the sponsorship table and have done well to keep the wage budget in check and remain 4th in that regard

All the extra money gets us another upgrade for the training facilities 

 

[Ace40]

''Gameplan Update'' 

Here is how things look after our big summer sale 

We cashed in on both Nicolas and Delany as their team was headed for relegation and they had a reduced relegation release clause 

Will Boumsong has utterly flopped in Saudi, scoring 1 in 15 and I've cashed in on his clause as I don't see him ever getting sold. 

We lost out on Zola because I removed the Colombian league and the game deleted him 

[Ace40]

Oct- March 

Lost track of time a bit 

A good season so far, we are undefeated in the league 

We made it out of the GS of the CL but fell in the first round of the knockouts 

We got another facility upgrade on the way 

We spent 100K on a young striker from Al Zawra'a 

The Iraqi NT U23 won the U23 Asian Cup, a good sign for our future 

#

Edited August 8, 2023 by Ace40

[Ace40]

March - July 

We win the league undefeated 

Once again we fail to win the FA Cup, this time losing in the final 

We make a huge sale towards the end of the season, as Kone is sold for a club record 7.5Mil 

We spend that money on an upgrade of the training facilities 

The Youth Intake continues to steadily improve 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2029-2030

Al Hedood and Amanat Baghdad went down

Al Mina'a returned to the premier league, alongside debutant Al Etisalat 

We won the Iraqi Premier League!!!!

Naft Maysan beat us in the final of the FA Cup

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

We were eliminated in the first knockout stage of the CL, an acceptable result 

Al Quwa Al Jawiya fell in the first Preliminary playoff round on pens against Uzbek side Navbahor 

Al Zawra'a finished third in their CL group behind Paxator and Al Rayyan 

Overall not a terrible year as we stay in 9th place, but it could have been better 

FC Hiroshima of Japan won the Champions League 

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2029-2030 

A year that started off well but ended in defeat 

We did well to reach the SF of the Arab Cup, but could not get past U.AE who beat us with a last-minute winner

Morocco won the tournament, and has tied us for the most Arab Cup victories with 4

We went into the 2030 world cup once again in a very difficult group, losing 5-2 to Brazil and 3-0 to Croatia 

There wasn't much anyone could do about the result 

We dropped down a few places to 63 in the NT rankings

 

[Ace40]

End-of-Season Review 

A 5th successive league title and a respectable showing in Asia 

The FA Cup continues to elude us 

The reputation has increased once again, but not enough to get us to 2.5 stars. I feel like the increases will be incremental until we can win the CL 

The training and youth facilities are now up to 3.0 

No change in the coefficient front, and a slight decrease in NT rating after a poor showing on the world stage 

Moussa Fall breaks a team record of most goals in a season with 29 and earns POTY 

Alaa Abdul Hussein broke a transfer record with a total of 7.7 Mil earned for him 

We now have nearly 16 Mil in the bank. We can upgrade our facilities to the max, but the bottleneck is now time 

I will stay at the club until the facilities are maxed, I don't trust the AI to do it on its own. 

It should take me two or three more seasons

Hopefully, we can go on a couple of strong runs in the CL to keep the coefficient safe while we build up another club

.... and maybe get an FA Cup title. 

[Deisler26]

Really enjoyable reading this. Keep up the good work

[Ace40]

17 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Really enjoyable reading this. Keep up the good work

Thanks! Appreciate you following along 

[Ace40]

July - Oct 

We go soft on the transfers this time around, only replacing the players we sold with more Iraqi youngsters

We made a number of good sales, all to Qatar, as we continue to grow the bank balance 

I decided to forgo the Loan Army as we earned enough money to finish upgrading facilities, however, the option to ask the board still isn't available which is worrying 

I don't want too much time in Samra'a as my talents would be more useful elsewhere 

We still maintain a healthy wage budget, I want to keep that so the club doesn't face trouble when I leave and they stop receiving huge sums of money 

However, I'm sure the AI will mess it up 

No change on the sponsorship end 

i

[Ace40]

''Gameplan Update''

The Gameplan has well and truly been executed as we rake in a ridiculous amount of money 

We sell Alaa'a Abdul Hussein's clause for nearly 5 Million 

Kone's clause will no doubt earn us a good sum of money 

we get 100 Euros for Kisnsorbo as he moved to another local side for 20.5k 

Qatar is keeping our bank balance in the positive as they've been making all the big purchases 

[Ace40]

Oct- Feb 

Another fantastic season so far

We made it 50 games unbeaten in the league before losing to Zakho 

We only lost as we rotated the squad heavily, and with many of our young players away on Int duty, half the team was 16 yr olds making their debut 

We win our group in the CL and are through to the round of 16 to face Qatari side Al Gharafa 

We had a player poached from us for the first time, as a 15 yr old went to Swedish Side IF Brommapojkarna 

We are obviously top of the league but I forgot to take a SC. I'm holidaying most of this season only playing the CL games 

We still don't have the option to upgrade the Facilities 

If we make the CL SF I will resign and move on to another club, as I feel I could grow the nation further by improving the facilities of other club even if Samra'a get stuck on 3 stars

[Ace40]

End of an Era 

Despite failing to reach the CL SF, I have decided to step down from managing Samara'a after nine seasons at the club, in which I took them from a struggling second-division side to the top team in the nation. 

I have gotten bored of dominance and frustrated with the lack of available facility upgrades 

I will now be looking for my next journey in the country, having learned a lot about how to build up a team 

I leave the club with a squad full of young talents and 4 really good foreign players, as well as good scouting and coaching network

I'm interested to see how quickly they destroy my hard work 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Ace40

[KristianT]

Looking forward to see your next destination! Great job with Samara.

[Ace40]

Thank you 

 

My next destination will hopefully be a team like Samara'a, i.e not from Baghdad with some history behind it. But it will depend on the jobs that are available. I don't want to stay unemployed for too long

[Ace40]

Feb - July 

We win a 6th consecutive Iraqi League Title 

We end our tenure with Samra'a having failed to win the FA Cup 

We are knocked out of the Asian CL by UAE Side Al Ain 

Naturally, we get our best-ever Intake once we leave the club. 

 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2030-2031

Al Talaba went down once again, alongside Al Etisalat who had one of the worst seasons in the IPL history

Al Difaa al Madani is promoted for the first time in the save, joined by Al Samawa who make their return 

We won the Iraqi Premier League!!!!

Zakho won the Iraqi FA Cup for the second time in their history

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

We were eliminated in the QF of the Asian CL, after getting knocked out by Al Ain 

Al Quwa Al Jawiya lost in the Champions League playoff, against Qatari side Al Wakrah

We were supposed to have another team take part in the qualifiers, but the game bugged out again

We make a huge jump in the coefficient, moving to 5th place 

This will guarantee us if the game does not bug out, 2 spots in the GS and one in the playoffs starting 32-33

Saudi Side Al Ittihad win their 4th CL title 

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2030-2031

A very good season for us on the NT Front 

We started off by reaching the SF of the West Asian Football tournament where we lost eventual champions UAE in the final 

First, we win the Gulf Cup of Nations after beating x in the final. This makes it  our 4th Gulf Cup title, which is exactly what we have IRL

We then headed to the Asian Cup, where we topped our group with 9 points  

We beat Tajikistan in the round of 16 but lost to Japan in the QF 

Iran won their 3rd Asian Cup 

We move up to 53rd in the World due to our Asian Cup adventure, which is the highest we've been all save 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Ace40

[Ace40]

End-of-Season Review 

A 6th successive league title and a good showing in the Champions League

The FA Cup curse continues 

The reputation has increased once again, but not enough to get the club to 2.5 stars.

Training facilities ate on 3.5 due to work that started towards the end of last season 

We did not get the option to upgrade them or the youth facilities the entire season

A big jump in both coefficient and NT Ranking

Moussa Fall with another great season earns him a second POTY 

It's been an enjoyable ride with Samara'a but it has ran its course 

Onto the next job 

[Ace40]

A Fresh Start 

After a few months away from club football, we return to the Iraqi League with Karbala

Karbala is the capital city of the province of the same name and is one of the holiest sites in Islam, as it has the shrine of Imam Hussein

Millions of Shia'a Muslims visit the shrine every year, and the mosque sits at the center of our badge 

 The club itself is a Premier League regular, although one that often battles relegation 

The club won the FA Cup in the first season of the save, so there is a lot of space in the trophy room to fill up

The club plays in the beautiful 30,000 Karbala stadium, which opened in 2016 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by Ace40

[Ace40]

Meet the Team 

Our best player is Mohammed Kazem, a 23-year-old fullback who I had back in Samara'a

I sold him to the Qatari league where he struggled for playtime, and joined at the start of the season on a free

The club is currently 17th at the halfway point of the season, but I'm sure I can guide the team to safety 

We have some decent finances and budgets to play with 

The facilities, as expected, are poor and will need a lot of work 

[Deisler26]

Beautiful city, beautiful stadium. Good luck with building these guys up

[Ace40]

On 11/08/2023 at 01:27, Deisler26 said:

Beautiful city, beautiful stadium. Good luck with building these guys up

Thanks, definitely a team with loads of potential 

[Ace40]

Feb - July 

We got to work immediately and the results showed 

We brought over 3 African signings, headlined by 6'5 striker Culibali 

He and his new mates hit the ground running and got our team a 12th-place finish 

Meanwhile, our previous club Samara'a barely finished 5th season 

They were 9th at one point before sacking my successor who was making bizarre lineup choices 

In a cruel twist of fate, they finally won the FA Cup ...... by beating me in the final 

We got an Elite talent in our youth Intake, and he will benefit from improved youth and training facilities 

s

 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2031-2032

Al Difaa Al Madani set a record for the worst-ever PL Campaign by going down with 6 points, they were followed by Al Samawa 

Al Hedood and Al Talaba both came back up 

Al Zawra'a won the Premier League 

Samara'a won the FA Cup for the first time ever 

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

Both Zakho and Samara'a were knocked out in the final Prelim round by Al Sadd and Al Wasl respectively 

Al Quwa Al Jawiya lost in the Champions League Round of 16 against UAE Side Al Ain 

It is enough for us to hold on to 5th place

Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale won the CL for the first time ever

 

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2030-2031

We cruise to the final round of the World Cup Qualifiers 

We have a heartbreak against Saudi Arabia as we lose on penalties in the SF of the Arab Cup - Tunisia win their second title 

 

 

[Ace40]

End-of-Season Review 

We comfortably escape relegation after taking the team from second bottom to 12th 

We lose in the FA Cup final against our former team 

Not enough time for our facility upgrades to kick in 

Culubali ends up as top goal scorer but I gave Mbongui the POTY 

I expect a  huge season from the 6'5 monster next season 

Our finances are in good shape 

We add a new metric to track which is our Avg league attendance, It was a pitful 313 out of the 30,000 seats in our first year 

[Ace40]

July to October 

We get to work in the transfermarket 

No foreign signings as I am happy with the four we have and it's too early to start hoarding teenagers 

We focued on improving our local players, which I think we did a good job of 

We are third bottom of the wage table, and bottom of the sponsorship income 

My former team is predicted to win the league, which I don't think will happen as they made 0 signings and sold about 6 players 

We are predicted to finish 10th but I think we can push for a top 4 finish 

[Ace40]

Oct - Feb 

A great first half of the season that see us in 3rd place, but it is competitive at the top of the table 

We are scoring a ton of goals which is great to see, but still not at the point where we can beat everyone 

We get approvals for some new facilities which is great 

[Ace40]

Feb - July 

Our first full season in charge of Karballa finishes with a top 4 finish 

Had we been more clinical we could have mounted a more serious title charge, but we dropped too many matches toward the end of the season 

We got an excellent Intake with 5 elite talents, however, none of them look like they will become world-beaters. Mostly serviceable players at this level 

We also got a player poached by Crewe 

[Ace40]

Iraqi clubs in 2032-2033

Naft Al Maysan and Nawroz both went down, a huge shame as we lose two provinces from the League 

Naft Al Basra came back up alongside Mosul. Mosul returned to the top flight for the first time since 2008, a huge milestone for a club that suffered under ISI*

Al Quwa Al Jawiya won the Premier League after a close battle with Zakho, winning their 10th title

They also won the FA Cup to make it a domestic double 

Iraqi clubs in Asia 

Samara'a were knocked out in the Qualifiers, but 3 Iraqi clubs made it to the GS for the first time in this save 

All three failed to make it past the groups

We fall to 6th in the coefficient charts, but it does not affect our spots in the CL 

Saudi Club Al Ittihad won their 5th CL title 

[Ace40]

Iraqi NT in 2032-33

We started off the year by winning the WAFF championship, beating Kuwait in the final 

It is only the second time we win the competition 

We finish second in our WC Qualifying Group, usually, that is enough to go to the WC, but the format is a bit different since China is hosting and there is one less Asian Spot 

We have an embarrassing performance in the Gulf Cup, bowing out in the GS 

We make quick work of Uzbekistan and Saudi to confirm our place in the 2034 World Cup 

Our U20s finish 4th in the U20 World Cup 

[Ace40]

End-of-Season Review 

We get a nice boost in reputation and facilities 

However our finances have taken a huge hit due to the upgrades, I'm not sure why the board greenlight both of them at the same time if we could not afford it 

They still don't let me improve the Youth recruitment 

Culubali had an amazing season, and earns himself POTY 

[Ace40]

10 Season Review 

Now that we've finished 10 seasons, I thought I'd take space to reflect 

It does seem we have hit our ceiling in Asia, The teams that take part have not made it past the first knockout stage except for my team 

Speaking of my old team Samara'a, the AI is so terrible at selling players. They sell players for a 100K where I used to get millions for the same caliber of players 

We have only one new-gen born overseas that gets consistent time for the NT, and none that are too good to play for us and play for stronger nations 

This is disappointing as I was hoping it helps us move up the ranks faster 

I project that the next ten seasons will have slow and Incremental success, but I am hopeful of some good regens that spawend at various clubs 

The Ai logic and transfers are really holding us back, but such is the game