Complete Unknown to Continental Throne

With the addition of the add/remove leagues feature, and Unknown Hacker's superb pack of playable leagues, I've decided that starting a thread on here may be the best way to get properly into an FM12 save. The plan is to start off at the very bottom, win each continental title in turn and end up winning the UEFA Champions League to crown the career. Of course, the chances of it all going to plan are minimal, but that's all part of the fun!

Initial leagues are all from:

Fiji

New Zealand

Solomon Islands

Tahiti

Vanuatu

Argentina

Brazil

I've started as an unemployed Englishman with Russian second nationality (to reflect my knowledge of the language), with a Sunday League reputation. Determined to take the first job offered to me in Oceania, I shall begin my adventure in the Solomon Islands with:

Koloale FC

Board/Media Expectations:

S-League: Safe mid-table position/5th

Financial Information:

Koloale are amateur, so transfer and wage budgets are non-existent. 5k in the bank.

Initial impressions suggest that the squad could do with some serious strengthening, especially at the back. However, the calibre of player willing to join us isn't particularly high, so I'll have to scour the free transfer market thoroughly to make the best signings. The league winners qualify for the O-League, but this season should just be about getting the hang of domestic competition - 8 teams, four times each. Plenty of time before the first game for the squad to gel, so off we go!

Good luck buddy

The leagues you've started with looks very interesting!

Good luck with Koloale!

Good luck buddy

The leagues you've started with looks very interesting!

Good luck with Koloale!

Thanks for the support guys - the early years should be interesting as I grapple with the poor quality of football, but midway through the first campaign it's been a lot of fun!

Despite a lot of player movement, we've been impressive so far in the league. Whether or not we can win the title is another matter entirely - two of our three defeats have been to Kossa FC, and they clearly have a stronger squad at the moment. We're on top thanks to greater consistency against the rest of the league, but with the whole league on amateur terms we're starting to struggle to hold on to our key performers - Kossa have already offered one of our starting strikers and key midfield a contract, so we just have to hope the players choose to stay with us instead.

Wow, there was a lot of movement but still a fantastic start to the season. It's beating the teams at the lower echelons of the table that can often win you the league.

Just out of curiosity, whats your in-game screen resolution?

Wow, there was a lot of movement but still a fantastic start to the season. It's beating the teams at the lower echelons of the table that can often win you the league.

Just out of curiosity, whats your in-game screen resolution?

Indeed - we've been playing well, but it's hard to keep a stable squad in an amateur league.

As to screen resolution, I'm playing in windowed mode. Is there anything I can do to make the screenshots clearer, or was it just the wealth of icons across the top that prompted the query?

Indeed - we've been playing well, but it's hard to keep a stable squad in an amateur league.

As to screen resolution, I'm playing in windowed mode. Is there anything I can do to make the screenshots clearer, or was it just the wealth of icons across the top that prompted the query?

I've only just noticed the amount of icons!

I asked because it's so clear and big, what is your screen resolution?

Edit: And because I've been having problems with my resolution recently, stupid graphics card.

Ah, gotcha - I'm on 1024 x 768 and it does come across nice and crisp, hope you get your problems sorted out soon!

I used to play on that resolution, it was the best one to fit everything I wanted onto the screen without being to small or big.

Great league win and them average ratings are amazing, I know you won the league by 10 points but it's odd that not a single one of the other players came close!

Koloale FC

2012/13 Preview

Board/Media Expectations:

S-League: Safe mid-table position/3rd

O-League: Enjoy participation

Financial Information:

Still amateur. 57k in the bank after steady profits last season.

More transfers again, not sure whether I'm happy about these or not - on the one hand, we only lost two or three first team players and brought in a few good talents, on the other we're still weak on the flanks and lacking depth. The first eleven is probably better than last year's, but the squad is not. With suspensions coming after just two bookings (and then every card thereafter), we'll need to keep our discipline and get lucky with injuries if we are to retain the title.

In the O-League, we're not expected to pull up any trees. We're in Group A with Hekari United (Papua New Guinea), Navua (Fiji) and Waitakere United (New Zealand). Only the top side goes through to the final so all the money is on the NZ side, but I have no idea where we stand compared to the other two teams. Guess we'll just have to wait and see!

It would appear that the wheels have well and truly fallen off this wagon - we started brightly before a horrific winless streak, and even some our draws have relied on late equalisers or set-piece goals despite being completely outplayed. Kossa FC are being more consistent this season, and it would take a minor miracle for us to retain our title. In the O-League we were understandably outclassed by Waitakere, but losing to Hekari was a bit of a blow - we're clearly the better team according to the numbers.

If we're to stand any chance of even challenging for the title, we'll need some major reinforcements over the second half of the season. We've just lost our only recognised right back, and suspensions have regularly forced us to deploy youth players in key positions. Just as importantly, our strikers have not performed as expected, so I'll be looking to bring in some firepower upfront.

Providing my reputation isn't too low, this could well be my last season in the Solomon Islands. Ideally I'll make the move to New Zealand, but in case the vacancies don't come up I've added a few leagues to the set-up, allowing for a quick dabble in Asia to build up my reputation. Of course, I might never leave Koloale, we'll just have to wait and see.

Quick note - FM just crashed on me and I was forced to replay the last two games. Second time round we recorded a 2-1 win over Rangers Honiara at home before shocking Kossa by the same score away. That leaves us just one point behind the leaders after 14 games, rather than the nine we were previously! Every cloud...

Sigh - getting crash dumps at the end of 2012/3, can't holiday past it or add a new manager so looks like this one's on the rubbish heap. I've done a few trial games and the problem seems to be with one or more of the smaller Oceanic leagues, so give me a while and I'll start fresh elsewhere in a new thread. Sorry folks.

Sorry to hear that EvilDave.

I enjoy reading your some of your blogs btw

Cheers HotChocolate, glad you enjoy them! Russian football is a fairly niche area so I'm not expecting the world's biggest readership, but I enjoy writing them and it gets me a bit of practice so it's all good

I should also be starting a new career in the next few days, probably kicking off in NZ and getting through Oceania a little more quickly. Not what I originally intended, but it'll have to do!