Safe Hands
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Posts posted by Safe Hands
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5 minutes ago, vikeologist said:
Well, there's an old name.
I'm not doing the challenge this year, but I haven't noticed anyone having problems with the ACL. Lots of people trying to do it with Japanese teams, so sort of the same question, how good an option are Japanese clubs compared with Korean clubs when it comes to winning the ACL?
22 was different as Japanese teams only had grey players so we're easy to knock over, only challenge was other Korean teams, it was relatively easy I won the treble 3 years running and I'm very average.
I'll get up and running. I did start a game with only countries loaded along the Danube river so could have gone from there and tried to knock Europe off but noticed didn't sort out the Brazilian team names so will start again. Just decided if I'm only loading Europe or mixer from everywhere
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Skipped last year's game and picked 24 up last night. Always do a journeyman save but kinda lose interest. Had a crack at this in 21 I think but again lost interest.
Think going to give this a go again as always wanted to complete it and in 21 my time in Africa probably most fun I've ever had since CM01/02 days.
Questions for those deep in, the problem I see this year is the Asia Champions league with the monster money in Saudi. I did a journeyman around Asia in fm22 and dominated with a Korean team but different animal now. Before I get in deep down the rabbit hole are people finding the Saudi teams just too strong?
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Happy new year all, been busy with Christmas etc so well behind an thread will have a read through and catch up.
My own save I took the Frankfurt job and now Japan manager. Currently approaching November in 2025, nothing really exciting has happend during in the previous seasons other than I've nearly maxed out my badges. Frankfurt I've slowly been building a team, couple of semi final appearances in German and cup an last season managed to finish in Champion league spots.
Will post a proper update when I finish my current season. I'm in two minds as not really approached it as a journeyman and been buying younger players by habit really. Thinking of keeping it as a separate save and starting again. Without giving much away we are in the race for the title just a point behind Bayern and we'll clear of 3rd but they are relentless they just dont lose and I'm yet to beat them in any game. If we can pip them to title this year I will carry on with this, if not think may start again as still feel I've cheated getting the Frankfurt job.
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Not played much but loaded up this morning to see what jobs I could get and the offers have been flooding in.
One is Eintract Frankfurt in Bundesliga, is the best one to take in terms of the challenge but it feels like cheating that in first season of the game I'd get a big Bundesliga team. I've delayed it as well as Hannover 96 that's a bit more realistic as they are just above relegation spots in Bundeliga 2. Also delayed an offer from Huesca in 2nd division in Spain.
Also have lots of lower league offers in spain and portugal but turned them down and knocking them off to save on processing speed.
What are peoples thoughts on the Frankfurt offer. I know it a game etc but would feel like I'm cheating taking a job of this size as my first club?
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2021/20222 Cameroon
Decided to start again had a few interviews but only jobs offers were the Chinese 2nd division which only had a few games of the season remaining. Didn't fancy waiting 5 months so turned them down. I applied for every job and was shocked to be offered the Cameroon job. They had a disaster qualifying for the world cup but wre the host nation in the AFCON starting in January. It felt unrealistic but i decided not to look a gidft horse in the mouth. The squad was ageing but had some immense quality Onana in goal, Augussai brilliant box to box and some decent strtiker like the evergreen Chupo Moting. We had one warm up game before the AFCON against DR Republic Congo, we won comfortable 3-0 playing a direct 433 dm. So onto the tournament where were were drawn against Cape Verde, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia I was confident we could get out of the group
SpoilerSo it proved, we were rarely troubled winning all 3 games without conceding a goal
2nd Round (if Applicable)
SpoilerWe faced Ghana who I thought would offer a sterner test but we were never in trouble and ran out comfortable winners
Quarter Finals (if Applicable)
SpoilerWe faced Tunisia and felt confident we would win this game having a superior squad and so it proved right Auggasi was excellent as a box to box. The whole team performed well. We did concede a later goal but managed to hang on for the win where Nigeria were waiting for us in the semi final
Semi Finals (if applicable)
SpoilerI toyed with the idea of changing our direct high press 433 and change to a counter attacking 442 and i was worried about the threat from Nigeria they had some strong players and the conditions were 31oc. Decided not to change anything and it worked a treat. We faced into a 2-0 early lead thanks to two goals from Lyon Toko, who returned in the semi has being injured in the group. At half time decided to knock down our pressing and tempo with the conditions and we comfortable 3-0 victory.
Other semi was Senegal or Ivory Coast. I really didn't fancy our changes against Mane ands co but they were beaten by the Ivory Coast
Final (if Applicable)
SpoilerI felt we could beat the Ivory coast, the conditions were perfect for our pressing game. We had to leave our left back out as he was too tired. Our captain was also tired but is essential to our tactic so i left him in. We dominated the game but couldn't find a break through. Just before full time Kessie was read cared so thought we could avoid the lottery of pens. Unfortunately we couldn't find the break through. Most of out players were nervous going into pens so i was worried. However we have Onana one of best keepers in the world and his 2 pens and our players holding their nerve meant we won. So one of the international cups out of the way very early before ive even took a club job.
What next. The team is ageing and with them not qualifying for the world cup I see no reason to stick around. Next step is to take a club job and work my way to my badges while keeping an eye on any international opening which might offer a chnace to win some silverware.
Profile below so not to spoil the progress of Afcon
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9 hours ago, Phelix said:
A lot depends on the leagues you have loaded. I don't want to play with a conference team at any stage (poor finances mean it's hard to get them let you get coaching badges). I prefer to play in more obscure European leagues or lower South American leagues in Chile/Uruguay/Colombia. I don't like playing in Asia either, so I only really load Australia and aim to win the ACL with an A-League team.
Sorry mate re-read what you put and think I understand.
Let say you loaded your games and lowest ranked leagues were say Dutch and russian 2nd division
I did the same but added hong kong, conference north and south, wales.
You would get job offers in russia and Dutch league where as on my game those teams wouldnt look at me and I'd but stuck to hong kong and wales?
Is that about right?
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3 hours ago, Phelix said:
A lot depends on the leagues you have loaded. I don't want to play with a conference team at any stage (poor finances mean it's hard to get them let you get coaching badges). I prefer to play in more obscure European leagues or lower South American leagues in Chile/Uruguay/Colombia. I don't like playing in Asia either, so I only really load Australia and aim to win the ACL with an A-League team.
Makes sense. I know getting any job is unrealistic but before I start I list all the playable leagues in order of rankings and try to take something below 100 to start. Limit choices and probably makes it much harder for me. On Hong Kong got a great offer from a dutch club in 2nd division but it was ranked 62 and thought too unrealistic.
Started again looking to start Turkey lower leagues , spain or italy. Spain and italy are just above 100 but choices below are mostly the lower leagues of England and small nations in Asia.
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6 hours ago, Phelix said:
Take the badges and run. A rebuilding project isn't what you need at the start of this challenge, badges will get you a better job without the need for performances in the Hong Kong league.
Starting again, I let my contract expiry but couldnt even get a interview at a conference team. I'd basically lose a year of game time to get a job I would get at the start.
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IRN BRU RANGERS 2021/2022
I had some really good jobs offers in Germany 3rd division and Dutch 2nd. I thought they were too unrealistic so turned them down. I fancied a new league to took up the reigns at Irn Bru Rangers in Hong Kong. I cant even find a picture of their badge on the internet.T hey had some solid foreign players who were excellent for the league 2 strikers and a keeper. The rest was a bit pants and they were 2nd bottom. There isn't much to add, I couldn't get anything going as you can see from my record of 3 wins in 11 games. Most disappointing is there are 3 cups in Hong Kong which all like champions league format starting as group then onto knockouts. We had all 3 to go at and failed to get out of the groups. It really was disappointing, I have my C licence and working on my B. However I don't know what I'm going to do, i feel its been a wasted season. Plus nearly all my squad is leaving ive manged to keep 1 of the good foreign players rest wont sign new contracts. There is some promising youth players but I really do need a full rebuild I have 3 players left from my starting team. Hong Kong is weird it a small league with 8 teams so you got weeks without a game even with 3 cups. Don't know if to take my badges and see what i can grab or start all over again and head to Europe as I original intended. I really didn't enjoy this season at all.
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Ready to go again. See where we end up this time
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Going to have to start again forgot to add fix to names meaning Brazil really difficult. Glad in a sense as wanted to start in Malaysia 2nd divison but really weird no one got sacked after sim most of season not sure if bug 1 team had 4 points after 19 games and still didnt sacked the manager. Re-think where I'm going now but probably start Europe. Thinking get to use players I know as doesnt really matter in South Africa or Americas as i dont know majority of players anyway so 30 years in future same as starting in day 1.
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Decided to start again with the new game, encase there is any bugs in the beta. Spain was nice start but going decided to load some of the leagues you can start early, hopefully get some badges and jump a few leagues up to save on processing save. Hoping for a job in Ireland or Asia leagues that start early.
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Levante B team
Decided to start this year a little different and loaded the lower leagues of Europe's top divisions. First interview was with Levante B team, they were struggling near the bottom of bottom division in Spain. 1 win in 8 but never managed a B team before so thought why not. Squad wasn't 2 bad, 2 very good players on loan. A Serbian under 21 winger and a striker from Tenerife who looked amazing for the league. they also had 2 decent players makers one very good who West Ham wanted. I decided to play a 433 to utilise my strong players and we started with a 1-0. This followed with 2 disappointing defeats and a 3 month injury to the player West Ham were watching. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as i had to switch to a 442. This lead to a 10 game unbeaten streak and put us in the playoffs. I was disappointed as the on loan striker i expected to be a goal machine just didn't turn up all season and finished with a poor return of 8 goals
This is where the life of a B team manager get so frustrating. On the winter transfer deadline day, i presume first team manager decided to loan out half my squad. I quickly put bids in for some loan players but the club wouldn't allow it. Without any wage budget we were left with 18 players and injuries. I had only 1 fullback so had to switch to a 352, we were solid enough but couldn't create even with our highly rated play maker back. We lost 5 on the trot 1-0.
I manged to pick up a young right back on a free who wasn't great but allowed us to return to 442 where our form really picked up. 3 games to go we were a point of the playoffs a disappointing draw at home to a mid table side was followed up with a win to a bottom league team. Meaning last game of season we needed a win away to 2nd and hope results went our way in another game. We were unfortunately well beaten 2-0 and just missed out.
B team management was frustrating as I'm confident had we kept the squad in place and the first team stopped taking out better players every other game we would have made the playoffs. They offered me a new contract but I'm deciding against it as i cant have another frustrating season like that and most players contracts are expiring and doesn't look like the club will renew. I managed to get my C licence and working on B so hopefully other jobs open up. I'll probably stay in Spain and see if i can get a job at a team where i make the decisions. At moment i only have Europe loaded and other leagues on view only but may decide to open up another part of the world and see what happens.
Finally table below and update profile.
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Cheers mate. Going a different route this year and started in lower reaches of Spain. Only few games in so will post update end of the season. Love South Africa once in the prem but will wait until I can get a job in the prem before heading there this save.
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Those starting in South Africa has it still that crazy rule where you can only sign players on 1 year deals? Really annoyed me last year had a great team with Cape Town Spurs last year, romped the league but whole team was dismantled by time i got to the prem
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My best save last year was trying this, when I started in South Africa and worked my way to the Japan job. I messed up the datebase though and never got back into the game. New year, new attempt. Was going to wait for full game but I don't get much time to play so starting now. Decided I didn't want to start in a league higher than 100 in rankings and wanted Europe first as other than a brief save with Sunderland, didn't really touch last year. Limited my choices to lower leagues of England, bottom 2 division in Scotland, lower leagues Spain or some other leagues which would have slowed processing time. So hoping for job in National league div 1 and work my way up. Profile below will post again once have a job.
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I've tried 100s of saves and not been able to get into anything for more than a season. The only save I've really enjoyed was my time in South Africa attempting this. Back to have another crack. Loaded Norway and Finland so hoping to start there as can start a season early. Profile below, will update once i have a done and complete a season.
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Couldn't get into the Steaua save so back with another crack this time in Chile.
Had 1 of 3 teams I wanted to manage and lucky on 3rd reload one popped up. Like the kit and name but facilities are shocking but decent sized stadium, other 2 options one played in same stadium and had decent facilities. Other just had a cool sounding name, small stadium and ok facilities. Not had a look at the squad yet but it looks thread bare in numbers. Loaded top leagues in all playable South American leagues. Also loaded top 7 nations in Europe as view only, mainly to make it an even playing field so not only do any regens coming through my ranks might get sold to Europe, they will also take players from Brazil etc.5 -
I tried re-loading the Croatian league about 40 times but it kept throwing up the same 2 teams who I didn't want. So I decided to go with my back up plan. I was going to do a save with this team at 1 point so might as well go with this. Time to bring back a fallen European giant to dizzy height of beating Barcelona in European Cup.
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Are the teams likely to change in the leagues not specified to change. There a team in Croatia in really want to manage as town my favourite place in world but there not favourites to come up. Loaded another potential league as back up but is it worth saving few days before and keep reloading or will it just be same team?
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26 minutes ago, XaW said:
Loans have to be terminated asap. If you are unable to, then stick them in the reserves and let them rot until they are recalled or the loan is up.
You can not extend loans, or anything regarding loans IN to your club, loaning OUT is fine. The players with contracts with your club can be renewed and retained as long as you wish.
Cheers, going to give this a go tonight, cant get into a save at moment. Just having a look around where I'll manage.
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Couple of questions in the team you take over had players already on loan can you use them? Also any players they already have are you allowed to renew their contracts?
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Experience needs to play more of a part in future games. Like you say, a team of 18 year old wonder kids would dominate. In real life it wouldnt happen, they would crumble under the pressure, not having that big game experience or physically bullied by players knowing the tricks, little cheats that only come through years of playing. Physical decline to sharply as well. Take someone like Ronaldo, Ibra, Cavani they look after themselves and are in great condition. Cavani last night in extra time running back 60 yards to make a block, after 1 season in game hes useless.
There are still ways to use older players I had a 41 year old Morgan Gamst Pederson on 1 save in Russian 2nd division get player of the year but it's a freak occurrence. I played in China had Bale , Aubameyang and Diego Costa as a front 3. They were absolute useless. I got sacked, they couldnt score and were outplayed by Chinese defenders with awful stats, not even good physicals.
It's a massive problem for me how rapid ageing stars decline. I tend to play journeyman saves and parts of the appeal for me is siging an ageing name in the an obscure lower league for last hurrah. It's mainly pointless trying when so 28 year old no mark will perform better than an ex ballon dor winner.
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7 minutes ago, BadAss88 said:
Why not start your Scandinavian/European journeyman as Mk moss then?
I normally always start unemployed, no badges etc. My aim from that save would be take them to top division in Norway, more long terms than jumping ship after a season or two.
I'm edging towards that or the american Journeyman save.
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The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge
in Challenges, Sign-Ups & Experiments
Posted
season 2023/2024
Started in Croatian 2nd Division with NK Solin. Finished the season 2nd after a mis season slump where I was playing around with tactics. I want in this save to try and develop a tactic I take with me to every club, which is built around an old player pass his best. I managed to pick up ex Roma and Belgium Star Rada Nainggolan. great mentals and technical but physicals on the wane. Tried to get him as an Engachge but couldnt get it to work so most success was as a Mezzala in 433 where he scored a few screams with his 17 long shots. The club have let me do my badges and now working on the 3rd badge. I don't know if to stick around ro leave I had a good squad but have lost majority on free's or loan players returning. Im having fun but other than doing my badges there no point staying for the challenge, i didn't even enter a cup last year, the club is semi pro so even with promotion im not going to compete in the prem and i need a full squad rebuild. Might me time to leave and see what else is around.