rancer890's FM10 Small Club to Big Club Asian Challenge

[rancer890]

Welcome to rancer890's FM10 Small Club to Big Club Asian Challenge! Once again, there will be a minor name change from the FM09. The South African league has been dropped from the challenge, and in its place are new leagues you can participate in, due to the competition editor. Whether you are a regular to the challenge, or maybe someone who is 'unsettled', and 'looking for a new challenge', this maybe a challenge for you. The abundance of new playable leagues will give you, the challenger, a lot more options to choose from, and maybe you can learn a thing or two about Asian football.

The Aim

To take a small club who where previously unplayable in the game from the lower leagues to win a Domestic title, the Champions League, the Club World Championship. You will also have the option to venture into international management to lead your selected nation to global glory once you have achieved the first three accomplishments stated above.

The setup:
Leagues you are allowed to use, and their reputations:

• Australia - 11
• Bahrain - 6
• China - 9
• Hong Kong - 4
• India - 4
• Indonesia - 5
• Iran - 10
• Iraq - 6
• Japan - 12
• Jordan - 6
• Kuwait - 7
• Lebanon - 5
• Malaysia - 4
• Maldives - 3
• Oman - 6
• Qatar - 10
• Saudi Arabia - 11
• Singapore - 5
• South Korea - 11
• Syria - 7
• Thailand - 6
• United Arab Emirates - 10
• Uzbekistan - 8
• Vietnam - 5
• Yemen - 4

Please note that Australia, Singapore, and South Korea (and few more of the new leagues I think) don't have relegation/promotion. If you decide to try those leagues, holiday a year and then choose the club that predicted to be last in the Premier Division of the country. With the introduction of the competition editor, there will many more countries which are complete to the lowest tier league. After a year of holiday, you must take over the team with the worst record.

Getting Started

Load a game with all available divisions in your selected nation (only one nation is allowed and no additional nations should be selected)

Large database is recommended (Medium and small are allowed though)

Attribute masking must be enabled.

Add yourself as unemployed manager, and then go on holiday until the league reset-date.

You are allowed to use fake players if you wish.

You can also 'Load all Players' from your selected country and only from your selected country if you wish.

League reset dates

• Australia - not applicable
• Bahrain
• China - January 20th
• Hong Kong - August 1st - save on July 29th
• India - July 15th
• Indonesia - June 1st
• Iran
• Iraq
• Japan - January 20th
• Jordan
• Kuwait
• Lebanon
• Malaysia - September 1st
• Maldives - November 20th
• Oman
• Philippines - June 19th
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia - July 10th
• Singapore - not applicable
• South Korea - December 27th
• Syria
• Thailand
• United Arab Emirates - July 20th
• Uzbekistan - January 15th
• Vietnam - December 19th
• Yemen

And then retire your manager. Create a new manager and his reputation must be set at Sunday league footballer, or Automatic if you can't find the Sunday league footballer option. Your manager nationality is up to you.

Take over one of the newly promoted club(s) in your selected nation. Check the club's history of league positions, it should be blank. It doesn't really matter which club you choose, although some club are easier than others.

It is now up to you to lead your team to domestic and Champions League glory. This is, however, a bit different than Dafuge's, Gundo's, or JoseRR's Challenge. There is an international element to this challenge. Although for this year, the rules have been a bit relaxed. There is a domestic challenge only version and the original domestic/international challenge component.

Domestic Challenge

1. Take your club to Domestic Glory. Take over a newly promoted club and win your domestic league. Cups don't matter. Step 1 done.
2. Take your club to Continental Glory. Win the Asian Champions League. Step 2 done.
3. Take your club to Global Glory. Win the Club World Championship. Challenge complete.

Domestic and International Challenge

1. Take your club to Domestic Glory. Take over a newly promoted club and win your domestic league. Cups don't matter. Step 1 done.
2. Take your club to Continental Glory. Win the Asian Champions League. Step 2 done.
3. Take your club to Global Glory. Win the Club World Championship. Step 3 done.
4. Take your country to Global Glory. Win your Regional Tournament and the World Cup. Challenge complete.

For those who only want to do the domestic challenge, only steps 1 to 3 are necessary. Those challengers who want to participate in the domestic/international challenge will have to complete all 4 steps.

Because of some concerns about when your country will actually have a vacant manager position, I decided to alter the rules a bit for those who are in the domestic/international challenge:

You can take the international job of your selected country at anytime. If you do not get the international job 5 years after you complete step 3, you are allowed to create a new manager to take over the job. However, you MUST retire your original manager.

Once you finish all the steps in the specific challenge (domestic or domestic/international), congratulations, you have made Asian football a force to be reckoned with around the world.

You are not permitted to move between clubs unless you are sacked; If you get sacked, you can either take over a newly promoted club that meets the original challenge criteria (check the club's league history), or just quit your current game and start over.

You must complete the steps in order. However, you can manage your club and country together if you wish.

There are no restrictions on parent/feeder clubs.

League File Downloads

Majority of the Asian leagues (download 'All Asia') - here
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan leagues - here
Kyrgyzstan (updated), Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan leagues - here
Philippines and Northern Mariana leagues - here
North Korean league - here

Put the above into the following directory My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2010\Editor Data. Start a 'New Game', and you will asked to choose a database. Tick 'Change', press 'OK', and choose the new leagues.

Thank you for participating in my challenge, and big thanks to the following:

• Frank Ng - the head researcher who assisted with the AFC Project in the editors and compiled most of the xml files
• the researchers who helped Frank Ng with the league research
• Darth_Sidius, dinamo_zagreb, Romanista., Pompeyboyz, Eken10, Shaft®, Unknown Hacker, Freagle, and bu ghazi - for assisting me in the AFC Project in the Editors Forum
• you, the challenger!
• and most importantly...SPORTS INTERACTIVE, for making FM10, and creating the Competition Editor to enable everyone to create leagues previously unplayable in this game, along with the many other improvements in the game.

[Sazchu]

Nice list of nations there, now i'm even more anxious for when i finally get the game(few weeks, hopefully less) and I might actually go for Nepal or the Maldives instead of my originally planned Hong Kong, such a variety of nations, so lovely.

[Gilbster]

Looking at that list of nations, I may have a few attempts in this challenge this year, eventually. Just 1 small point, where on earth do you put the file you have to download?

[DanGLiverpool]

Last paragraph before the thanks section.

[rancer890]

Post updated with what to do with the files, near the download links.

[rancer890]

Now I've holidayed a year in Japan and there's several recently promoted teams (in the Regionals)...now where is the club information? I can't find it...

[Ethan13]

Great to see this up. I am holidaying now and hoping to get Adelaide United again. It may take awhile though as they are predicted to finish 2nd in the game.

EDIT: Just the second time I holidayed I was surprised to see this League Table.

So I have taken over Adelaide United for the second year in a row in this challenge and hopefully we will be able to match what we did last year and win the club world cup.

Profile

[VeniVidiVicious]

I may do this challenge later on, but I think you'll get more contribution from Scotty my bro... aka ShootTheRunner.

[rancer890]

Welcome again Ethan13, and good luck with Adelaide!!

I think I know why Japanese clubs don't have the club information...although right now I think I might have a go at a league in West Asia. I just need to find a league with lenient foreigner rules.

VVV, hope both and your brother to be contributors to my challenge.

[rancer890]

Filipino and Northern Mariana leagues are now playable.

[Spleen!]

If anyone happens to load the Indonesian leagues, could you tell me which league Barito Putra are in? I probably won't have the game until Monday, just interested to know.

Also, in Guam is there 1 or 2 leagues?

[ShootTheRunner]

I've decided to move to Australia, India was just too hard on the international part of the challenge..

Taken over North Queensland Fury FC, here's my profile.

[Ethan13]

Good luck ShootTheRunner.

Managed to get some good players in the pre season. The squad doesn't look to bad but I am not sure where we will finish. Hoepfully we can try and get a finals spot.

[brettney1980]

Welcome again Ethan13, and good luck with Adelaide!!

I think I know why Japanese clubs don't have the club information...although right now I think I might have a go at a league in West Asia. I just need to find a league with lenient foreigner rules.

VVV, hope both and your brother to be contributors to my challenge.

Care to share why? I've decided to try out this challenge this year with all the added leagues it sparked some big interest in me. Just holiday'd a year in Japan and have chosen to manage Daito Grim Reapers (Great name).
My Profile.

[rancer890]

JSalter: think Guam has 2 divisions...

STR: Good luck with Fowler and Co.

brettney: Same reason as the greyed out Japanese/German national team I would think, with the same workaround. Good luck with the Grim Reapers. Quite fitting for the day.

[ShootTheRunner]

Ooh, just signed a 37 year old Edgar Davids..

[The Shaman]

FWIW to anyone here, I've been debating where to start playing in FM10. With the editor I wanted to try someplace new and it come down to a choice between Costa Rica (as I loosely follow a team there) and Vietnam (as I happen to live in a largely Vietnamese neighborhood and I love their food).

While I might not be participating in this thread I want to thank you for making it easy for me to find a V-League startup, and for anyone who might want to give it a shot I can tell you that the reset date is on, or just before, Dec 19, 2010. Also, no relegation is programmed in for the second division (I have no idea if it exists IRL or not) so I would assume for the challenge you'd just take over the worst placed team.

I might not participate here, but I do follow all the small-to-big threads and I look forward to reading everyone's progress. Hope the reset date is helpful to someone.

[archie#10]

Introducing new North Queensland Fury manager Hugh Jaars. My first save on any FM version is usually in Australia so this seems a good idea.

[Ethan13]

Good luck in the A-League archie#10.

After 8 league games we are sitting in an impressive 3rd position. Cristiano has been on fire with 8 goals from 8 games.

[DodgeeD]

With all these extra nations, is the President's Cup now a playable competition? What about the other regional contests like the Arab Champions League etc?

Hopefully, we'll see a few successful challenges and get some extra variety in any future version of the Ultimate CSE League.

I'll be starting with a career first but may come here later and take on one of the extra leagues. In a way, the new editor has a downside - there's just too much stuff to choose from now! How will I fit it all in before FM11?

[kabajingai]

Care to share why? I've decided to try out this challenge this year with all the added leagues it sparked some big interest in me. Just holiday'd a year in Japan and have chosen to manage Daito Grim Reapers (Great name).
My Profile.

There is no such team called that in Japan. You have to delete the lnc file.

[Spleen!]

When I added Guam in FM08 I played in the President's Cup, so it should be playable. Not sure about the Arab CL.

Still haven't got it yet

[kabajingai]

I just need to find a league with lenient foreigner rules.

Regardless of the domestic rules the continental rules would be the same (3+1) so it really doesn't matter where you start your challenge. Anyway most domestic leagues in the AFC follow the 3+1 rule. You gotta win the Champions League with mostly HG talent from your selected country.

[brettney1980]

There is no such team called that in Japan. You have to delete the lnc file.

Wheres that at? That sucks i was getting into that save ... Oh well.

[kabajingai]

Today, newly promoted Chinese side Tianjin Songjiang announced the signing of a new manager to lead the team in the Jia League for the upcoming 2010 season. The relatively unheard of Japanese/Englishman Dietmar Van Nostrelboy...

Tianjin Songjiang has a mammoth task ahead of them. A squad of inept players on fat long contracts and a completely rubbish staff has meant that changes will be rung as soon as possible. Van Nostrelboy was quick to play down his side's ambitions merely focusing on the season ahead and seeking to consolidate in the league. The board matched the ambitions of their young manager by giving him a tiny little budget of 6k.

Profile

Anyhoo, the only crazy thing about this team, aside from the tons of players on daft contracts is that they play in a whopping great big 65,000 seater stadium nicknamed the Water Drop. Only one side goes down this season but given the fact the board want consolidation, I think a top 10 finish would be the main aim.

PS: The Chinese league restarts on January 20th, which is kinda daft because all the players contracts run out in December meaning when you start over you have to contend with useless players that have 2 to 3 year deals because the previous manager was so dumb.

[rancer890]

Regardless of the domestic rules the continental rules would be the same (3+1) so it really doesn't matter where you start your challenge. Anyway most domestic leagues in the AFC follow the 3+1 rule. You gotta win the Champions League with mostly HG talent from your selected country.

Oh that I know...I'm trying to find a country where I can get citizenship the easiest...and after that I'll embark on my challenge to hopefully finally finish it!

I know Hong Kong is like 3 years, and China is like 10 years...

I know I'm picky, but I really want to finish my challenge this year!!!

And good luck with Tianjin Songjiang. Are you starting in the Yi league or the Jia League?

[Quackje]

Well I gave this a shot already for first game on fm10 and I already got sacked from DPMM (the Bruneian side that plays in Singapore and has 3 people with global bans after they had a fight with a referee, the best defender in the squad got 15 months for punching him)

I just looked through the thing and Lebanon is 3 years, a lot say -1 or 0 but I'm not sure what that means.

[brettney1980]

Daiko Grim Reapers - Season 2010 - Japanese regional Hokkaido League.

After 5 league games i am yet to win 1 ... Also on a bright note yet to lose also .. Table.

We have won 1 game however in the All-Japan Shakaijin Cup 2nd Qual. Rd.

... Still not used to the new tactics yet is my excuse but it'll come ... Hopefully before relegation strikes.

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2010/2011(Season 1)- Ethan13

For the second year in a row I took over at Adelaide United for this challenge. The team was predicted to finish last after finishing last the year before. The squad wasn't to bad but still needed a few signings here and there to strengthen it.

A-League (Regular Season)----League Table----Graph

The League went much better then expected as originally I would have been happy with just a finals place. We defied the odds and despite a few poor results we played well and easily qualified for the finals series. We were even siting in 2nd with just a few games to go but had a poor final fews games which meant we could only finish 3rd.

A-League Finals Series- I was a bit confused as the A-League now has a 6 team finals series. Our first game was against Brisbane at home and it was 1-1 when Dodd scored in injury time to win it. I thought that it was a 2 legged match but in the end it turned out that Dodd had saved us from going out. The next match was against Wellington and we were cruising at 2-0 until Jamieson got sent off and they scored twice all within 10 minutes of each other. We managed to score and hold on to win 3-2. The preliminary final was against Newcastle and despite holding a 1-0 lead for most of the game we conceded 3 late goals and dropped out of the competition.

Finances- Not great but should be better if we can start winning some competitions.

Transfers- Got some good players on frees with the best being Matt Simon.

Squad

Key Player- Cristiano- He was on fire all season and ended up with 28 goals and 10 assists in just 27 matches.

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims for Next Season
- Improve Defence
- Challenge for A-League title
- Improve Staff

Domestic:

 Season    League    Position    Final Series    
------------------------------------------------
 2010/11   A-League  3rd         3rd         
-------------------------------------------

[rancer890]

Quackje, it was worth a go at least. Where are you planning to go next?

brettney: Hope you can get a few league wins to stay clear of relegation.

Ethan: nice first season with Adelaide. The graph link goes to finances though...

I'm now holidaying in Japan again - with the real club names.

EDIT: Hmm. I deleted them and they still got the fake names...

[rancer890]

Holidayed a year in Saudi Arabia, and have chosen to manage Al-Rawdah.

They have players, but no staff. I can sign a max of 5 foreigners even in the Second Division. This will be fun.

[Nightowl]

Really tempted to try Nepal, but saw there was only one division, and I'd prefer a league with more... maybe later.

For now, meet the new manager of the future power (hopefully) of Saudi Arabian football, newly promoted Al-Tohami:

http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/5366/profilewr.jpg

Some basic information about the club, current status is semi-professional, playing out of the 5000 seat King Faisal Sporting City in Jizan. The stadium is in poor condition, and we are not listed as the owner, so hopefully the board will build me a new one some day... The club has fairly basic corporate and training facilities, and minimal youth facilities. We do however have a youth academy. Current balance is £35500, and I'll receive 30% of any transfer revenue. We have no staff and affiliated clubs, and the board is willing to let me scout the Middle East only. Finally, the chairman is willing to listen to offers, so maybe some rich Saudi prince buy the club and provide us with limitless funds (or more likely, some poor chairman will come in and fire me to hire his drinking buddy).

The board expects a mid-table finish, and is providing a £0 transfer budget and £110k p/a for wages (we are currently using only £15808 p/a) to achieve it.

Back after the first season!

PS The Saudi league is updated on July 10, so save on July 9 if you want to reload to get new teams.

[rancer890]

Welcome Nightowl. Thanks for joining me in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Rawdah play in a 1500 all-seater. We got basic training facilities and minimal youth facilities. We're having a little bit of trouble getting staff because we can't meet their wage demands...

[Nightowl]

Wow, when I started my post, you hadn't posted about playing in Saudi Arabia yet. Guess I shouldn't have stopped to eat in the middle of posting

I'm having the same problems with staff, I can offer about half what the cheapest staff I've found want...

[ShootTheRunner]

Good luck in Saudi Arabia, Rancer and Nightowl.

12 games into the season with the fury and we're second in the table only 3 points below Central Coast Mariners. I went a bit over the top in the transfer market and signed a ton of strikers, though one is the league's top scorer and another is the youth league's top scorer.

[Quackje]

I appear to be trying to get sacked again in Iceland for now rancer, might head back to asia later.

How does it work with all the other leagues here, I mean I had a quick look at the editor earlier but I'm wondering how fair it is etc...
Maybe you should post what rules to put for each one? are the numbers of foreigners and things set?

[Ethan13]

Fixed the link to the graph.

Good luck in Saudi Arabia rancer890 and Nightowl. It's good to see more people are trying to challenge.

[Quackje]

When I said I was trying to get sacked in Iceland that was a joke... but I just got sacked, I'm not very good at fm10 it would appear. I still feel a lot of the blame lays with my complete and total utter lack of defenders.

[rancer890]

When I said I was trying to get sacked in Iceland that was a joke... but I just got sacked, I'm not very good at fm10 it would appear. I still feel a lot of the blame lays with my complete and total utter lack of defenders.

Don't worry. I'm so crap in FM10 that I can't even score a goal in Saudi Arabia.

[Quackje]

A lack of goals was another problem I had, combined with leaking goals at the other end you can see why I've been sacked twice already. I asked my friend to show me his tactics that are working alright with his Southampton game, one of them was basically identical to what I used most the time in Iceland. I think I shall head to a land of better players (and not the Maldives...).

[rancer890]

I might try again with a league with no relegation...

In my Colorado game, there's a tactic that's at least scoring goals every game.

[kabajingai]

And good luck with Tianjin Songjiang. Are you starting in the Yi league or the Jia League?

Poo. Got relegated. Tbh my tactics were rubbish and backroom staff kept giving me duff regarding the players. Its a really really hard challenge over there and not helped by the language problems. I think I am going to start again in somewhere like Korea or Australia instead. Might do Japland once Piko releases the DB.

I want to play as Wellington though.

Let's see how it goes.

[kabajingai]

When I said I was trying to get sacked in Iceland that was a joke... but I just got sacked, I'm not very good at fm10 it would appear. I still feel a lot of the blame lays with my complete and total utter lack of defenders.

Ditto. I really need to discover the defensive tactics on this game. My team just keeps getting raped on crosses and through balls.

[Ethan13]

Looks like a lot of people are having trouble with this challenge and are getting sacked easily. 3 games into the second season and we sit top with 9 points from 9. The squad is much stronger then last year especially in defence. Picked up a few Australian Internationals who were released from there clubs. Hopefully we can keep it up and win the league.

[MachinegunHead]

This is a great challenge, especially with all the new leagues being created!

I have just one question. Is there a good logo pack for Asia anywhere?

[kabajingai]

Finally, the chairman is willing to listen to offers, so maybe some rich Saudi prince buy the club and provide us with limitless funds (or more likely, some poor chairman will come in and fire me to hire his drinking buddy).

Well that will be a turn up for the books in Saudi Arabia!

[MachinegunHead]

I'm joining this challenge. Just finished holidaying in Australia, and will be managing Brisbane Roar.

League Table at end of season 1: Screenshot
Profile Screen: Screenshot

Even though the team finished last in the 09/10 season, they're predicted to come 3rd this season, so things should be pretty smooth! I also know enough about the club to know who to get rid of, and who to keep. Should be a fun save.

[rancer890]

My Saudi takeover keeps getting called off...

I fancy a move over to Indonesia, where I played my own challenge a bit near the end of the season, or maybe the A-League, if I keep struggling.

MachinegunHead: there's the FM09 logos I'm using...it doesn't include the new leagues in this challenge though. Good luck with Brisbane.

kabajingai: I used the new tactic creator, and I'm improving in my other game with Colorado Rapids. I suggest using it to hopefully get some results wherever you decide to go next.

[MachinegunHead]

I'm joining this challenge. Just finished holidaying in Australia, and will be managing Brisbane Roar.

League Table at end of season 1: Screenshot
Profile Screen: Screenshot

Even though the team finished last in the 09/10 season, they're predicted to come 3rd this season, so things should be pretty smooth! I also know enough about the club to know who to get rid of, and who to keep. Should be a fun save.

So I just finished my pre-season, and I've done pretty well. I played a bunch of non-league Australian teams, and ended up scoring 24-1 over 6 matches, the highlights being a 7-1 win and a 6-0 win.

I've just been using basic tactics, and have had a load of luck with transfers. Christian Vieri and Scott Chipperfield were out of contract at their clubs, so I snatched both of them up for a steal. The only other players I brought in were a 15 year old that my scout thinks will be special and Matthew Thompson as a back-up defender. I also have a 16 year old DL/R who seems to have loads of potential. A lot of dead-weight from the team was released before I took over the reins, so I had a good base to start from.

I'm expecting a cracker season! Reinaldo also seems to have managed to get Aussie citizenship, so I've got a spot free for an Asian player, should I need one.

[rancer890]

So I just finished my pre-season, and I've done pretty well. I played a bunch of non-league Australian teams, and ended up scoring 24-1 over 6 matches, the highlights being a 7-1 win and a 6-0 win.

I've just been using basic tactics, and have had a load of luck with transfers. Christian Vieri and Scott Chipperfield were out of contract at their clubs, so I snatched both of them up for a steal. The only other players I brought in were a 15 year old that my scout thinks will be special and Matthew Thompson as a back-up defender. I also have a 16 year old DL/R who seems to have loads of potential. A lot of dead-weight from the team was released before I took over the reins, so I had a good base to start from.

I'm expecting a cracker season! Reinaldo also seems to have managed to get Aussie citizenship, so I've got a spot free for an Asian player, should I need one.

How many years does it take to get Aussie citizenship?

[MachinegunHead]

How many years does it take to get Aussie citizenship?

4 years. Most Aussie teams have had a couple of their foreigners for a few years, so it helps that most are qualified Australians by the time you start the challenge. Now I just need to scout a worthy Asian international to fill the final part of my squad. Preferably a Gk, but Asia isn't exactly renowned for keepers.

[Spleen!]

I fancy a move over to Indonesia...

It's the place to be

I'll hopefully have the game tomorrow, might not be able to get properly started until next weekend though. Indonesia is tempting again, but if Barito Putra aren't available I may have to look elsewhere.

Good luck to everyone attempting this challenge

[rancer890]

It's the place to be

I'll hopefully have the game tomorrow, might not be able to get properly started until next weekend though. Indonesia is tempting again, but if Barito Putra aren't available I may have to look elsewhere.

Good luck to everyone attempting this challenge

A couple days before FM10 was released, I tried my own challenge in Indonesia, and it was not bad, although my team played crap. At least it was a Professional club with pretty good facilities.

I'm simulating in Indonesia and Australia to see my options now...

[Spleen!]

As you're loading Indonesia, what league are Barito Putra in?

[rancer890]

As you're loading Indonesia, what league are Barito Putra in?

Indonesian First Division.

[DodgeeD]

If it hasn't change from FM09, you could go for Wellington in the A-League and benefit from Aussies and Kiwis counting as domestic players and a quicker two-year period to get citizenship - that will come in handy for the national side later on.

[Spleen!]

Indonesian First Division.

Thanks, guess I won't be taking them to glory as part of this challenge this year.

[Nightowl]

kabajingai: Good point about the drinking buddy, forgot what nation I was playing in for a minute Although that would have been more interesting than the boring director takes over, nothing changes but a name on the screen takeover that did happen...

Al-Tohami 2010-2011 Update

Our first season was a great success. After looking at the initial squad and seeing all of the players on £210 p/a part-time wages, I knew we'd need alot of upgrades, so out went my two scouts to scour Saudi Arabia for free players. Signed a bunch to full-time contracts so they would be able to train more. Managed to bring in exactly 11 first team types, so it was time to come up with a formation.

Looking at who I had signed (the original players were just terrible), I noticed I managed to sign two left backs but no right, and only had 1 striker (my worst signing) and 1 midfielder capable of playing outside the center of the field. So, time for a new (for me) Christmas tree looking formation, with a back four (one of those left backs was awkward on the right, so he would train there all year. Only had a left foot though), 3 MCs, 2 AMCs, and a striker. With a veteran 37 year old keeper, and to very solid DCs, I figured we'd be very tough to score on, but goals would be a problem...

Well, I was half right. Our defense was brilliant, but our offense was decent as well, allowing us to do this in the first season:

League Table:
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/8259/1011table.jpg

On to First Division, this is probably the best first season I've had in the game in a long time. Maybe I was born to manage in Saudi Arabia!

On the strange side, I got several messages during the season that we were expecting a poor turnout of just over 1000 for a game. Odd because we averaged 1303 fans a game, while the next best in the league averaged 431 (glad I picked this team...). According to the weekly news item, the entire league only averaged about 2300 fans total for all division games, so that "poor" turnout was still probably enough to account for close to half the total turnout for the whole league. Wish I could tell my board to count there blessings...

Back later when I finish what's looking like a much tougher year in the First Division.

[DodgeeD]

kabajingai: Good point about the drinking buddy, forgot what nation I was playing in for a minute Although that would have been more interesting than the boring director takes over, nothing changes but a name on the screen takeover that did happen...

That could make for some interesting discipline options if one of your players misses training after leaving a nightclub in the early hours..

Congrats on a great first season. Best of luck in the top flight.

[brettney1980]

Congrats on the promotion Nightowl ... I'm still struggling to win but my now 6 draws is a New Hokkaido League record most games unbeaten. Really need to sort the tactics out thats now 5 0-0's and a 1-1.

[rancer890]

Congratz Nightowl on first season promotion! Big D, he's not in the top flight yet...there's the Saudi Premier Division, Saudi First Division, and Saudi Second Division.

At least you haven't lost yet brettney...

Now, meet the new manager of Indonesian club Persma, Ricky Nakano. Founded in 1960, Persma Manado are a Professional football club. The club is valued at US$1.3 million, and they play in the 25,000 (10,000 seated) capacity stadium Klabat. They have fairly basic training facilities, and basic youth facilities and a youth academy.

[Spleen!]

Good luck rancer

I remember Persma. Weren't ever any good iirc. Nice stadium size though.

[rancer890]

Thanks. I signed out my staff which I'm pretty pleased about. The club is still a bit low on depth so my priority is to find players on a free for each position...

There's a quality central midfielder I want to sign but he's not Indonesian...

[ShootTheRunner]

FM 10
North Queensland Fury FC

2010-2011

Media Prediction - 10th

Table - Graph - Finals Series

We had a really bad start to the season, only managing to get my first league win on our sixth game but after that the wins kept coming. We reached another bad patch towards the end of the season old managing to get draws against the lower sides. Luckily the form returned in time for the finals series, where we won the semi's against Central Coast Mariners from a 1-1 draw over the two legs and beat them again 1-0 in the grand final. A special mention to Ryan Gazet du Chattelier who was my youth team's top scorer. I started him in his first competitive game of the season in the final and he scored the only goal of the game.


Finances - Transfers

Well we've obviously got no money at all, so I could only spend up to 5k on new players. I'm pretty happy with most of my signings, including van Buekering, Edgar Davids and Oliver Bozanic who looks like a very good player for the future.


Jhon van Beukering - Easily my best player, my top scorer and the league's second.

 Season        League      Position      Finals Series
------------------------------------------------------
2010/2011     A-League       2nd             1st

[JEinchy]

Going to do this challenge in Japan. Always wanted to manage there but never had the chance to thanks to lisencesing issues.

Something I've been wondering: how do you do that "code" thing which displays your season results etc like in the post above? I feel it could prove quite a handy tool for myself.

Also, just to clarify, I only need to select the one league I want to manage it to download, right?

[ShootTheRunner]

Type out [code ] at the beginning and [/code ] at the end of everything you want to be in the box.

[rancer890]

Nice work STR in your first season.

And yes JEinchy, you can download only the Japan link from the OP if you wish.

[JEinchy]

Sorry to keep bothering you with questions, but in the Japanese leagues, am I right in saying that I can start in any of the leagues below the JFL? There's 12 leagues below that one so I am a bit confused.

[rancer890]

The leagues below the JFL are the regional leagues. Simulate a year and then start with a newly promoted team in one of the 12 regional leagues.

[JEinchy]

Right guys, thanks for the help.

Now introducing the new manager of Machida Zelvia, in the Kanto League - Jamie Einchcomb

[Ethan13]

Congratulations ShootTheRunner on a great first season. You did slightly better then me. The finances will improve once you start qualifying for the CWC.

[MachinegunHead]

Good effort ShootTheRunner. Now lets see how you go in the ACL!

Hopefully you can pick up a quality Asian free-agent for it.

[kabajingai]

Right guys, thanks for the help.

Now introducing the new manager of Machida Zelvia, in the Kanto League - Jamie Einchcomb

Why are they in the regional leagues? They got promoted into the JFL last season.

edit: I would really love to play in Japan for this challenge but the problem is that the DB offered is rubbish tbh. Okay if you don't know the J-league but...

[kabajingai]

I think I'm gonna try China again.

[Ethan13]

After 12 games we have opened up an 8 point lead at the top of the table. It is looking like we should be able to win the A-League this season.

[MachinegunHead]

FM 10
Brisbane Roar FC

2010-2011

Media Prediction - 10th

Table - Graph - Finals Series

A mediocre season really. There was an odd glimmer of hope here and there, but we could never really get momentum. Every match was destined to be a cracker, with many 4+ goal games. Sadly clean sheets were hard to come by. Part of the poor form is due to my decision to play a 16 year old at right back for 75% of the season, and two 19 year olds in midfield. One of them was the runner-up young player of the year, so there are some signs of promise. Hopefully next season is an improvement . Central Coast were unstoppable this year, and qualified for the ACL along with Adelaide. I hope they both make it through to the knock-outs so that it interferes with their next season.

Finances - Transfers

I bought a few nice players, but they weren't as brilliant as their reputation would suggest. Vieri scored here and there, but was too unfit to get any momentum, and fell out of favor with me a few times. Chipperfield did his job, but wasn't as outstanding as I would have hoped. With him and Moore in the back-line with my amazing new Brazilian keeper, I thought I'd be set. I guess I'll have to give it another season and sure up my defense a little bit more. Money is still a problem though, which is always the case in the A-league.

Sergio Van Dijk - Easily my best player. Always around the goals, either setting them up or kicking them in. Always exciting when he is on the ball.

 Season        League      Position      Finals Series
------------------------------------------------------
2010/2011     A-League       5th             5th

[rancer890]

kabajingai: I don't fancy the J-League db either...but it's the first year with the competition editor, and I'm sure there will be more users making the J-League db better.

machinegunhead: good first year. Hope you can build on it next year.

[kabajingai]

Say hello, to new manager of Dalian Yiteng.

Profile

I feel a bit more confident about this job. The squad is a lot better and overall the setup just feels a little different. Seems a lot more professional to me. My squad is pretty decent and I've just added to it by removing the deadwood and adding some experience and two loan signings from my feeder club (Dalian Shide)

The club boasts a tiny little 3000 seater dilapidated stadium which is rented off the local teaching training college but on the plus side has a great little youth academy which has already churned out a decent little centre-back.

Club profile

Wish me luck!

[brettney1980]

Daiko Grim Reapers - Season 2010 - Japanese regional Hokkaido League.

Well the strange drawing run continued until the very last game of the season where we managed a 1-0 win over the bottom club to stay up (they did have 8 first teamers missing which probably helped) we could win in the cups going further than the board had expected us to go (ok so it took extra time twice but still ...).

Final Table.

Squad Stats - Finances.

After a full season of the Chairman nogotiating with different partys we finally have new owners.

Season        League      Position       Cup runs
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010     Hokkaido League     4th    Emperor's Cup 2nd rd/All-Japan Cup 2nd rd.

[rancer890]

Good luck kabajingai with Yiteng. They're not Guangdong Sunray Cave, but they're a solid team.

Nice first year in Japan brettney, you didn't even lose a game in your first season.

[kabajingai]

Christ, talk about a brash debut...

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3561/firstmatch.jpg

First league match. Defensive blunders and a complete shambles in team organisation. Took me ages to sort it out. Tbf, Donga seem to have one of the better squads in the league. Didn't help that I gave away penalty, played a shoddy offside trap and then gifted them an OG.

[rancer890]

Well, at least you scored 3...

The 2009 Chinese Jia League just finished a week ago. Final Standings.

Guangdong finished in 5th.

[blowcrapup]

I think I'm going to have to go to Japan in this one.

[JEinchy]

It's just as well about Zelvia... they're predicted to come first but their squad is absolutely awful. Every player barring one or two are rated as half a star! Might need to chose a different club here...

[rancer890]

Welcome back blowcrapup!!

Looking forward to your participation in Japan.

How are you doing in Japan JEinchy atm?

[JEinchy]

I didn't have time last night to get stuck into it, but I have looked at the squad and well, it's awful I have to say. Boared expects me to win the Kanto Regional league with these players, although they have given me £150K to spend so it looks like I'll have to make use of that. I'm still trying to get used to how the league system in Japan works.

I glanced at my fixtures and thought it was odd how I would play 5 or so friendlies going through the rest of January... yet my first league game wasn't until April! I don't if that's an error or something is going on in that three month gap.

[blowcrapup]

After a restart because I forgot to load all players from Japan I have now taken control of Fuji 2003. If I had had a free choice I would have been FC Korea which seemed to be made up of North Korean exiles.

Fuji Profile

For some odd reason I have a wage budget of 15 million Yen with a current budget of 1.1 mil. I also can't view the staff section of the club but that may be because I have no staff. Are any of the clubs at the other new countries missing their info pages/history etc.?

[rancer890]

Most Japan clubs don't have club information pages...but you should view the staff at least.

Good luck blowcrapup.

[blowcrapup]

It still won't let me look at the staff screen after hiring people.

[Sazchu]

Nice to see some early success and quite a bit of draws there in japan (no loss though \o/)

On to other matters, Rancer890, I'm not sure if Northern Mariana Islands should be included as currently in real life they are not official AFC members and due to that reason i think they can not have any represenatives in any of AFC's competitions so it would be kinda futile to play them and if they are able to play in any continental competition in that file then i think it would be too unrealistic to include in the challenge.

[Charlesbeams]

Want to start this, as im sick of reloading all the time for dafuges :P i only want Whitby or Durham if im to try it.

Would start with Japan but like a few others said, its not so great, so i think i might try Hong Kong, as i had a decent career going there before.

Will post in a bit when ive finished holidaying, and chosen a team.

[Charlesbeams]

I couldnt see any teams that got promoted into the HK leagues :S so im going to try China instead

looks like no teams from Chinese division two get relegated, i was using a created one, looks like ill have to load just the top two divisions

[Charlesbeams]

sorry for a 3rd post in a row, but i kind of want an answer quickly :P so im not just sat waiting.

there are two new teams in the division, Tianjin Locomotive, and Dalian Yiteng, the only thing is, they have been previously been in the division, but years ago.

Can i take over one of those teams or not?

[Nightowl]

Al-Tohami 2011-2012 Update

Season two was much more difficult... I again signed several free players, since most of my buys from last season weren't good enough for this level. I did have a £5000 transfer budget, which I never used. Also, my youth setup produced a quick striker described as "one of the best to come through our system". Promising, but I doubt it means much with a youth system like ours. He scored on his debut in the opening game, but didn't do much of note for the rest of the season.

I added to my solid keeper and DCs with some new signings at fullback, hoping to again have a solid defense. With a few solid buys at striker and right mid, I changed my formation to a 4-4-2, even though I had to play a right midfielder on the left all season. Still, it was time for the Christmas tree to go, as the AMs I used last season were not nearly good enough for this level.

So, how did it go?

League Table
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5866/1112table.jpg

My defense was solid again (second fewest goals against in the league), but my offense was terrible, only better than one team. I really need to find a real striker before next season. Worse, my keeper showed serious signs of decline as the season wore on, and abruptly retired at the end of the season, so he needs replacing as well. And teams are starting to sniff around my best DC and MR, hopefully none is serious enough to tempt them away...

A few milestones as well. I signed my first foreign player (a backup DC from U.A.E.), and had my first international call up (U19s, but still...) this season. Also, the team reached the quarter finals of the Saudi Crown Prince cup, knocking out a Premier League team in the previous round, only to lose to a team below us in the First Division standings.

Hopefully I can keep the team together, and maybe receive some funds to buy a real player or two. We'll see in the next update.

Season......Division...Position...S.C.P. Cup
2010-2011   Second     1st        1st round
2011-2012   First      9th        Quarter Final

(For reference, the Saudi Crown Prince Cup goes 1st Qualifying Round, 2nd QR, 1st Round, Quarter Final, etc.)

[rancer890]

Okay Sazchu. Don't choose Northern Mariana anyone...

Yes Charlesbeams, you can take over either Chinese team.

[Nightowl]

Good luck kabajingai! I think I played in China in a previous version, I seem to recall a rule that required you to have a Chinese keeper. Am I remembering the right league? You'd think that would really drive up the price of decent Chinese keepers...

Good job brettney1980, MachinegunHead, & ShootTheRunner! For the Australian league players, since you play an odd-number of games, do some teams play more home games and some more away? I'm curious how they work that out.

[Charlesbeams]

I Decided to go with Tianjin Locomotive, and Dalian were in this division only two years ago, so it seemed the better thing to do.

Manager Profile

[rancer890]

Good luck with Locomotive Charlesbeams. Locomotive are a decent club, well decent in FM08 and FM09.

[blowcrapup]

Japan is a bit to buggy. I can't look at my staff or a lot of other stuff. I might venture somewhere else.

The U.A.E. and Kuwait don't have relegation from the 2nd division.

[rancer890]

Nice work Nightowl. Just keep getting better, and hope you get promoted soon.

blowcrapup: I plan on asking some people about Japan and how to get club information and staff...if you decide to try out UAE, simulate a year and start with the worst club.