The Art of Drowning

Started this challenge with Energie Cottbus and somehow managed to win the league first season, gave plenty of minutes to young players too: 16 year old left back 27(7) 16 year old striker 4 16 year old right back 6 (17) 16 year old central midfielder 7(21) 16 year old central midfielder 8(19) 16 year old centre back 4 19 year old AMC 8(15) 21 GK 35 So this is very annoying and doesn't seem very fair

Since my last update 2030/31 - Deportivo Guadalajara and Nigeria Finished 2nd in the opening stage, before making it all of the way to the Final only to lose to Monterrey. Then managed to win the closing stage League before making it to the final and losing to Tigres. 2031/32 - Deportivo Guadalajara and Nigeria We had a very large budget so went about rebuilding the side, spending an absolute fortune on some of the best young talent in Mexico. We won the opening stage and the Champions League (Every team bar one was from Mexico) meaning this region is now complete. With Nigeria we were quite a weak squad compared to some of the others, Osimhen never came out of retirement but we still made it all of the way to the Final of the African Cup of Nations. Unfortunately we then lost to Ghana after extra time in the final. I immediately resigned and took over the vacant managerial role at Ivory Coast, they have a much better squad so I'm optimistic we can go one step further and win it with them. 2032 - Corinthians and Ivory Coast Took over with Corinthians midtable in Serie A, didn't have as much money as previous teams and only limited percentage of sales available too but still set about a massive rebuild of the squad as it was pretty old and poor. Signed several new players and promoted some promising young players too. We improved massively and managed to finish in 2nd behind runaway winners Sao Paulo to qualify for the Copa Libertadores. We also made it to the Final of the Copa Sudamerica and continued my recent tradition in finals by losing that one too We've signed more players to prepare for the new season and I think we have a very good squad now, defensive midfield is probably the only position I want to upgrade in, we have 28 year old Andre Santos coming in on a Free midway through the season but they want £15m for him to join now which I'm trying to scrape together but we might have to wait. We've made a 100% start to qualification for the African Cup of Nations so it's looking good there.

So I've been playing this challenge for a little while now without providing any updates, so here goes a very brief update: 23/24 - Black Leopards Got a job in the 2nd tier of South Africa at Black Leopards, managed to keep them in the league before working on a complete rebuild for the new season. 24/25 - Black Leopards/Cape Town Spurs The rebuild went well and we looked very capable of getting promotion, the start of the season was a bit inconsistent but then we won loads in a row but somehow the team in front of us just wouldn't slow down either. With about 8 games to go I decided to apply for the vacant managerial position at Cape Town Spurs, they were bottom of the league but I felt they had better finances to support a challenge for the honours needed. I realised after getting the job that they actually won the league the season before so it was a real fall from grace for them, we were still in the Champions League when I took over although we immediately lost our games there to see us knocked out, however I did keep us up. 25/26 - Cape Town Spurs A big rebuild saw us build a squad capable of challenging for the title, however we unfortunately fell short by just one point. I also sacrificed all of the cups to focus on the title challenge so still had all of the competitions to play for to complete Africa. 26/27 Cape Town Spurs I really fancied the Golden Arrows job as they had a Korean Tycoon running the club, however they rejected me. So I focused on Cape Town and built a really impressive squad full of African Talent, our Ivorian regen Centre Back Traore in particular will go on to be a superstar. We won the Telkom Knock Out, The DSTV Premiership, The MTN 8 and finally the Champions League to complete Africa before resigning. 2027 Jeju United Got a job in Korea with a tycoon owner, they didn't have a great squad and with 10 games remaining I couldn't get them into the Champions League places 2028 Jeju United Time to spend some of that tycoon money! We spent £29m on the best young Korean talent in addition to some good foreign players (a class Ivorian Striker now at Dortmund the highlight). I think we signed about 30 players with the oldest player in the side 21 years old We won the league but were knocked out of the cup in the Semi Final 2029 Jeju United Spent another £43m which is silly money in Korea Signed our former Cape Town Centre Back Traore from Saudi Arabia for £26m and we were able to win the league and cup as well as remaining in the Champions League. Also got the job as manager of Nigeria, our opening 2 friendlies were a defeat to Venezuela and a last minute winner against UAE which did not bode well. 2030 Jeju United / Nigeria Completed Asia by winning the Asian Champions League and resigned with the team sitting top of the league again. Qualified through our World Cup group by beating USA and Syria and then losing 3-2 to Ukraine before being immediately knocked out by Austria 2-1 in the next round. Annoyingly Victor Osimhen won't reconsider retirement atm despite only being 31. 2030/31 Deportivo Guadalajara / Nigeria I have been rejected by a lot of clubs before ending up here and this may be a bit of a challenge, the side can only sign Mexicans and none of the good ones are willing to join a side not in the Champions League. However there is a lot of talent in the youth sides who I'll immediately be promoting, we won't win anything this year but I'm hoping giving them game time this year will mean they will grow into great players in the next couple of years. So far we've drawn 3 and won one and sit 5th in the Torneo Apetura. With Nigeria in the AFCON qualifiers we have beaten The Gambia and Tunisia in the group stage so far.

Just won the AFCON with Ivory Coast but feel like I've cheapened the save by holidaying through games that weren't in the Asian Champions league so I think I'll start again another time when I'm back from holiday. Annoyed I didn't save it separately before all the holidaying now.

Thanks, will fix that later

Yokohama Marinos Yokohama Marinos J1 League 2026 Season A mega rebuild of the side meant we went into this J League season with pretty much an entire new squad of players, as well as a total rebuild of the staff. A much more youthful side than previous seasons but I was confident we had built a really good squad. This turned out to be true as we won the league fairly easily and won the J League Cup. We got complacent in the Emperors Cup and were knocked out by a side in the league below. Like many others in this challenge it seems, I am also now manager of Ivory Coast. Currently playing qualifiers for the AFCON with pretty mixed results so far, losing away to Cape Verde a low point. A bit bored in Japan so finding out the Asian Champions League doesn't start until a long way into next season is really annoying, I'll suck it up and try and conquer it though. Key Player Nestory Irankunda Unbelievable as an inside forward on the left, have recently read online that he is joining Bayern Munich in real life. He now has some of the worlds biggest clubs looking at him on this save too. League Table Cup Challenge Progress Club 1/10 Domestic Leagues 1/10 Domestic Cups 0/5 Continental Championships 0/1 Club World Championship International 0/5 Continental Tournaments 0/1 World Tournament

Am I right in thinking that upon winning the J League I don't even get into the AFC Champions League the next season? Instead it's 2 years later?

Now for that rebuild, a lot of outgoings of the oldies. Coming in: Yosuke Ideguchi (released by Celtic) Rafael Struik (Free from Ado Den Haag, Non-Foreign as he's from Indonesia) Takhuro Nakai (Former Real Madrid - £2.1m) Mohamad Rihanieh (£800k Syrian AMC) Ivar Jenner (Indonesian on loan from Utrecht, also had him at Gifu) Ekanit Panya (£257k and Thai so non-foreign) Mikaze Nagasawa (21 Right winger from FC Tokyo for £975k) Jhon Acurio (Free from Barcelona in Ecuador, paid a fortune in wages to stop him joining much bigger clubs) Aleksander Hammer Kjelsen (£2.7m for the 20 year old Norwegian Centre Back from Valerenga) Taichi Fukui (£1.5m for the former Bayern Munich Midfielder) Gervais Yaha (£250 for the regen Ivorian Forward at ASEC Mimosas) Nestory Irankunda (£1.3m from Adelaide) Sander Navarro (Free Colombian right back previously at Millonarios) Hiroyuki Nagano (Regen Centre Back on loan from Vissel Kobe) - There are some great Japanase regens, none of them want to sign permanently for me Kim Ji-Soo (Korean Centre Back on loan from Brentford) 15 new signings along with several guys promoted from the youth team, so it will be a very different Yokohama this season.

FC Gifu Meiji Yasuda J2 League 2025 Season Back to back titles, this one was easier than the J3 League as we dominated the league. Financially despite making a profit in transfers both seasons we are in trouble, that along with Walian agreeing to leave at the end of the season meant I had made my mind up to quit the moment the league was mathematically won. Resigned with a few games left which left me wondering what country I would end up in next, and in a real departure we have a job in.... Japan. Applied or jobs at Yokohama Marinos (10th in J1), Pohang Stealers (8th) and Shanghai Shenhua in China. Had interviews at both Japanese clubs but decided to accept the Yokohama job due to their secure Financial Status. They again have a very old squad which is in need of a rebuild, however some very interesting prospects in the academy who I immediately promoted to the first team for the remaining games of the J1 Season. Ended up finishing 7th. Season Team Position Notes & Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2024 FC Gifu 1st J3 Champions 2025 FC Gifu 1st J2 Champions Challenge Progress Club 0/10 Domestic Leagues 0/10 Domestic Cups 0/5 Continental Championships 0/1 Club World Championship International 0/5 Continental Tournaments 0/1 World Tournament

I've just noticed it isn't a bug, Indonesia amongst a few other nations is not considered foreign

Loaded a few leagues and started the save at the start of Brazilian pre-season which was apparently Christmas day 2023, didn't take long to get a new job and have ended up at FC Gifu in the J3 league. They had a talented but ageing squad but around £900k to spend which was perfect for a full on rebuild, so that's exactly what I've done. Ended up winning a very closely fought title race and then immediately became one of the favourites for the J2 title the following year Currently in season 2 and 8 points clear at the top of the J2, but I plan on moving on after this season. It's been good to get some coaching badges in (currently going for Continental C) but we don't have the resources to challenge at the top of Japan. Also don't have any homegrown players which will be a problem. Also not sure if it's a bug, but my Indonesian free transfer striker Ezra Wallian is not showing up as a foreign player. I'm not complaining but I don't think that's right?

Yeah the issue with holding back is you might find the better young players kicking off wanting to leave. Amadori is currently in a strop because I rejected an Arsenal bid and Stiven Shpendri has loved a moan. Im most likely screwed in Serie A with next to money to spend but hopefully will earn some money while we are there. I've been quite fortunate with a couple of great youth intakes so far.

I'm managing Cesena and I can confirm that Amadori is 100% ready to start immediately! But he's not the only one, they have a whole load of talented players in their U21's and U18's so I decided to either sell or not register most of the experienced players in favour of youth. This has lead to a Serie C win followed by a Serie B Win.

Thanks, thought as much. Makes it more of a challenge, keep trying to reduce the basic salary and pay extra in appearance fees to beat the system

With dynamic league reputation things can obviously change over the years, but does this mean salary caps can change over the years? Currently managing in Canada with a wage cap of £11k for the league. Will this increase as the league gets better? Also any chance of me ever getting a reserve squad? Literally don't have any reserve or youth team currently.