[FM10] This is a Tribute - DodgeeD's World Tour

I finally settled on a theme to my career: a tribute to the members of the forum whose career exploits and forum contributions have kept me hooked over the last couple of years. I intned to start unemployed and see how far I can go. Be warned: progress will be slow as I will dip in and out of this when I need a break from my B.C. Branco save in the Big Euro Nation challenge but I hope to keep this career on the go until FM11 at least.

Set-up: 10.0.1 (No edits); medium database, players from top clubs on all continents loaded

Past Experience: Sunday League Footballer

Leagues loaded:

a) The Tributes

Brazil (Serie A & Serie B) – in tribute to corinthiano for his extensive knowledge of South American football and Brazil in particular. Also to daemonic and dafuge for their great FM09 careers.

China (Super League and 1st Division) – in tribute to the infectious enthusiasm for Asian football brought to the forums by rancer890.

Hong Kong (top flight only) – in homage to the great careers of Raware.

India (top flight only) – a nod to crouchaldinho and his fantastic Britain/India challenge.

Northern Ireland (top flight only) – it wouldn’t be a series of tributes without a cap raised to Nep, Knockbreda and Smylie now, would it?

USA (MLS) – again for rancer890 and his beloved TFC.

Uruguay (1st & 2nd Divisions) – in honour of McTavish, first to complete the South American incarnation of the small to big club challenge on FM08.

b) Greatest Hits

Czech Republic (1st & 2nd Divisions) – scene of my first challenge completion with Chmel Blsany in Gundo’s FM08 challenge

Mexico (1st Division & Promotion League) – home of my favourite ever save with Estudiantes Santander.

Turkey (Super Lig & 1. Lig) – my adopted home country and source of my FM09 Gundo’s success with Yalovaspor

c) ...and the rest

Argentina (1st & 2nd Divisions)

Australia (A-League)

England (Premier League & Championship)

Spain (Liga BBVA & Liga adelante)

A lot of leagues I know! My laptop has 2 stars for performance and 1 for game speed at present but I have a deal with my wife that I can switch to the much-more powerful desktop PC if the game slows down too much (either that or a new laptop )

Aims: These are not set in stone but more a rough outline of how I’d like this career to pan out.

• Start outside Europe.
  
• Win a continetal trophy.
  
• Manage a minnow nation (an extra tribute to MadWoodster and his international challenge).
  
• Move to Europe after building up my rep.
  
• Win the Champions League.
  
• Win the World Cup.
  
• Take a final pay check in the MLS/A-League.
  

Now to see who is willing to give me my first break!

Are you enjoying my career so far? Please give it a rating

The Story So Far....

Tai Po (Hong Kong)

[u][b][font=Courier New]Season[/font][/b][/u][b][font=Courier New]   [u]Division[/u]       [u]Pos.[/u]  [u]Domestic Cups[/u]         [/font][/b][b][font=Courier New][u]Continental[/u]
[/font][/b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4373784&postcount=25"][font=Courier New]2009-10[/font][/url][font=Courier New]  Hong Kong 1st  4th   FA Cup Final          ACC 2ndR
                             League Cup SF
                             Senior Shield QF[/font]
[font=Courier New]------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4403836&postcount=40"]2010-11[/url]  Hong Kong 1st  2nd   FA Cup 1st Round      -
                             League Cup Final
                             Senior Shield SF

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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4442462&postcount=53"]2011-12[/url]  Hong Kong 1st  2nd   FA Cup SF             ACC Group Stage
                             League Cup Group
                             Senior Shield SF
[/font][font=Courier New]------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4502050&postcount=83"]2012-13[/url]  Hong Kong 1st  3rd   FA Cup 1st Round      ACC Finalists
                             League Cup Group
                             Senior Shield Winners!

Resigned in October 2013
[/font]

Olimpo de Bahia Blanca (Argentina)

[font=Courier New]Appointed December 2013[/font]

[u][b][font=Courier New]Season[/font][/b][/u][b][font=Courier New]   [u]Division[/u]       [u]Open[/u]  [u]Close[/u]  [u]Overall[/u]  [u]Play-offs[/u][/font][/b][b][font=Courier New]  [u]Continental[/u]
[/font][/b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4603769&postcount=115"][font=Courier New]2013-14[/font][/url][font=Courier New]  Argentine 2nd[/font][font=Courier New]  -     5th    9th[/font][font=Courier New]      N/A        N/A[/font]
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[font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4707658&postcount=142"]2014-15[/url]  Argentine 2nd  1st   2nd    1st      Promoted   N/A[/font]
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[font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4778409&postcount=179"]2015-16[/url]  Argentine 1st  15th  10th   13th     N/A        N/A
[/font]------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=5139266&postcount=223"]2016-17[/url]  Argentine 1st  11th  11th   12th     N/A        N/A[/font]
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[font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=5276170&postcount=239"]2017-18[/url]  Argentine 1st  10th  9th    10th     N/A        N/A[/font]

Left at end of contract (June 30th, 2018)

San Lorenzo de Almagro (Argentina)

[font=Courier New]Appointed July 1st, 2018[/font]

[u][b][font=Courier New]Season[/font][/b][/u][b][font=Courier New]   [u]Division[/u]       [u]Open[/u]  [u]Close[/u]  [u]Overall[/u]  [u]Play-offs[/u][/font][/b][b][font=Courier New]  [u]Continental[/u][/font][/b][font=Courier New]
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=5371194&postcount=260"]2018-19[/url]  Argentine 1st[/font][font=Courier New]  2nd   1st    1st  [/font][font=Courier New]    N/A        Copa Sudamericana Winners![/font]
[font=Courier New]                                                          Copa Libertadores SF
                                                        Recopa Winners!
[/font] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Resigned November 2019 

Toronto FC (Canada/USA)

[font=Courier New]Appointed December 19th, 2019[/font]

[font=Courier New][u][b]Season[/b][/u][b]   [u]Division[/u]  [u]East Conf.[/u]  [u]Play-offs[/u][/b][b]  [u]Continental[/u][/b][/font][font=Courier New]    [u][b]O[/b][b]ther[/b][/u]
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5647683&viewfull=1#post5647683"]2020[/url]     MLS       1st         Winners!   N/A            Canadian Champions!
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5662832&viewfull=1#post5662832"]2021[/url]     MLS       1st         Conference CCL Winners!   2nd in Canadian Champ.
                              Finalists  PPC Winners![/font][font=Courier New]
                                         SL Winners!
                                         CWC Finalists
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5690695&viewfull=1#post5690695"]2022[/url][/font][font=Courier New]     MLS       1st         Finalists  SL Group Stage Canadian Champions![/font]
[font=Courier New]-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5729658&viewfull=1#post5729658"]2023[/url]     MLS       1st         Conference CCL Winners!   Canadian Champions!
                              Finalists  [/font][font=Courier New]SL Semis
                                         CWC Winners![/font]

Left at end of contract December 2023

Sevilla (Spain)

Joined February 2024

[u][b][font=Courier New]Season[/font][/b][/u][b][font=Courier New]   [u]Division[/u]   [u]Pos.[/u]  [u]Copa del Rey[/u]    [/font][/b][b][font=Courier New][u]Continental[/u]
[/font][/b][font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5747610&viewfull=1#post5747610"]2023/24[/url]  Liga BBVA  5th   Finalists       Champs League 1st KO
--------------------------------------------------------------
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5783099&viewfull=1#post5783099"]2024/25[/url]  Liga BBVA  3rd   Quarter-finals  Europa League QFs
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5863570&viewfull=1#post5863570"]2025/26[/url]  Liga BBVA  5th   Winners!        Champs League QFs

Left at end of contratct, June 2026
[/font]

Man Utd (England)

Joined March 2027

[u][b][font=Courier New]Season[/font][/b][/u][b][font=Courier New]   [u]Division[/u]        [u]Pos.[/u]  [u]Domestic Cups[/u]      [/font][/b][b][font=Courier New][u]Continental[/u]
[/font][/b][font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5891948&viewfull=1#post5891948"]2026/27[/url]  Premier League  9th   N/A                N/A
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5923092&viewfull=1#post5923092"]2027/28[/url]  [/font][font=Courier New]Premier League[/font][font=Courier New]  1st   FA Cup Winners     N/A
                              League Cup QFs 
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5981156&viewfull=1#post5981156"]2028/29[/url]  [/font][font=Courier New]Premier League[/font][font=Courier New]  1st   FA Cup Winners     Champs League SFs
                              League Cup Winners
                              Community Shield
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[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-FM10-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=6181358&viewfull=1#post6181358"]2029/30  [/url]Premier League  1st   FA Cup Winners    Champs League Finalists
                              League Cup 4thR
                              Community Shield
[/font][font=Courier New]   [/font]

Solomon Islands

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]Competitions[/b][/u]          [b][u]Notes[/u][/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]2012    N/A                   Joined in April 2012[/font]
[font=Courier New]2012    3rd in WCQ 2nd Round  Resigned in June 2013[/font]

South Korea U19s

[font=Courier New][u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [b][u]C[/u][u]ompetitions[/u][/b]            [b][u]Notes[/u][/b]
2013    1st in Asian U19 Quals  Joined in October 2013[/font]
[font=Courier New]2014    Won Asian U19 C'ship    Resigned November 2014[/font]

Bolivia

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]Competitions[/b][/u]    [b][u]Notes[/u][/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]2015    N/A             Joined in July 2015[/font]
[font=Courier New]2016    N/A             N/A[/font]
[font=Courier New][url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=5241673&postcount=230"]2017[/url]    9th in WCQ      Resigned in October 2017[/font]

Cameroon

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]Competitions[/b][/u]     [b][u]Notes[/u][/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]2019    N/A              Joined in December 2018[/font]
[font=Courier New]2020    ACN finalists    Resigned in February 2020[/font]

New Zealand

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]Competitions[/b][/u]     [b][u]Notes[/u][/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]2023    N/A              Joined in July 2023[/font]
[font=Courier New]2024    OCE Cup Winners
2025    Confed Cup 1stR  Qualified for 2026 World Cup via Play-off
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/171102-This-is-a-Tribute-DodgeeD-s-World-Tour?p=5864748&viewfull=1#post5864748"]2026[/url]    OCE Cup Winners
       World Cup 1stR     [/font]

[/code]Turkey

[font=Courier New]
[u][b]Season[/b][/u]  [/font][font=Courier New][u][b]Competitions[/b][/u]     [b][u]Notes[/u][/b][/font]
[font=Courier New]2026    N/A              Joined in July 2026[/font]
[font=Courier New]2027    N/A              Qualified for Euro 2028
2028    Euro 2028 QF
2029    N/A              Qualified for World Cup 2030
2030    World Cup 2ndR[/font]

Legend: QF = Quarter final; SF = Semi final

ACC = Asian Confederation Cup

ACN = African Cup of Nations

CCL = CONCACAF Champions League

CWC = Club World Championship

SL = SuperLiga

PPC = Pan-Pacific Championship

WCQ = World Cup Qualifiers

This sounds very interesting DodgeeD, i'll be following every step of the way

'Infectious enthusiasm' for Asian football. That's definitely me!

And about the last bit. It's quite hard to take a last pay check on a league that you didn't load...

Good luck in this career!!

Cheers hamilton162 and rancer890.

And about the last bit. It's quite hard to take a last pay check on a league that you didn't load...

Whoops! :o That's now been edited into the OP.

Good Luck at Tai Po DodgeeD, hopefully you can do well with them

TFC

You posting your challenge thread ?

You posting your challenge thread ?

What challenge thread? If you mean the ten year career challenge, I might get that up once I have finished the Big Euro Nation challenge.

Good luck with Tai Po Big D.

Hope you enjoy your stay in HK.

I'm honoured to receive the tribute! Even more so that you're starting your career in HK alongside my homage Looks like another really interesting career and one i'll definitely be following.

Good luck with Tai Po They're an up and coming team who, as you say have a youth academy and have their own ground.

Best of luck with this

A promising start there DodgeeD and a nice win against Fukien! I have to say i'm impressed with the signings you've made, especially Fagner and Annan. The league title stands a great chance of being yours...providing you can keep The Shalin Temple quiet.

Thanks Raware. Unfortunately, as you'll see in the next update, our form has gone off the boil a little and the title seems a distant dream, especially with Kitchee and South China moving clear at the top. I think the top 4 is a realistic aim though. Plus, we have kind draws in the Senior Shield and League Cup so I hope a good cup run or two will boost morale and finances.

Aw man Big D, forgot to tell you about the strict foreigner restrictions in the ACL and the Confederations Cup...

It's best to try and sign some Chinese players because it only takes 2 years for them to get HK citizenship.

It seems all the best available players (and the ones most willing to come) are Chinese anyway. What about foreigners who have taken up Chinese nationality? I have one of those

It seems all the best available players (and the ones most willing to come) are Chinese anyway. What about foreigners who have taken up Chinese nationality? I have one of those

Foreigners takes 7 years (or 8). I would definitely raid China for players. I'm sure some of the 1.3 billion there can play football in HK's top flight.

I like what you've got going on here dude

Good luck with your career. I'm not a fan of journeyman games myself (as I'm sure you could have guessed) - but I like to follow people who do these kinds of saves. Keeps it interesting

Cheers Nep

I'm sure I'll take in a season or two in NI in the future in search of the next Symlie.

Steady progress still DodgeeD. It sounds as if a title challenge is out the window for this season but a cup win is still possible. As rancer said, it's probably best to look for Chinese players as they only take 2 years to gain citizenship, foreigners take 7...if you can find Chinese players out of the 1 billion that want to move. The continental cups are really difficult to win as, again as you and rancer said, only 3 foreigners are allowed. I managed to win the ACC and the ACL on FM08 once but that was down to a lucky draw. I struggled to win either of them again.

Any plans to leave already? Or will you be sticking around HK for a while?

No definite plans to stay or go yet... A lot depends on how this season pans out. If Tai Po are still in the Confederation Cup after the group stage (possible - we only need a point from our final game to guarantee 2nd, a win to take top spot ), I will definitely stick around for those games. We won't win the league but we still have a chance in the FA Cup (all the best teams are on the opposite side of the draw so the final is within our reach). In short, good cup progress will see me stay on for a bit longer.

Good first season Big D but...

standings screenshot, and September and October Team of the Month all go to the same screenshot.

Hope you do better next season and get back to the Confederations Cup.

Cheers rancer. I won't be in the Confederation Cup next season as the league rules say top two from the league qualify (as South China did the double, I was hoping it would be league champion and cup winner with me going through as runner-up ).

Screnies now fixed (at least they should be! )

Just saw this, will give me something to read at work.

Cheers mag man. I would love to follow threads at work but the forums are filtered out on all the computers there.

Nice progress so far DodgeeD. With the exception of South China, who are always miles ahead in terms of quality, it's looking fairly close in the race for 2nd place. It must've been sickening to lose in the semi's how you did though! That damn Carrijo...he was always the thorn in my side when we played them too...although he's been sold now on my save which is making things a little easier for us I'm a bit sad though at where Fukien are standing...and having failed to score in 8 games!

Solid start Big D. Hope you can get to 2nd and hope South China loses points here and there, and capitalize on that and win the league.

Well, that's the plan, but you never know.

I think someone with my managerial abilities is managing at Fukien, because I can't score, and can't win at all, and the manager there is mirroring my 'accomplishments'.

I don't think there's much chance of catching South China as I played just beyond the winter break last night and they beat Kitchee to pull even further away at the top... They also dominated Citizen in the Senior Shield final and made it all the way to the final of the Confederation Cup, only losinh to a Kuwaiti side on penalties. They'll take some catching

Fukien are having a terrible time indeed! On refelction, our 2-0 win in the first game should count as part of our poor early season form. It seems the teams associated with Raware are struggling with Happy Valley relegated last season...

Were the Police team still amateur when you got promoted rancer? When I did a test run with this set up, I noticed HKFC coming up a couple of times and staying amateur - needless to say they got relegated quite quickly on ech ocassion!

it seems the teams associated with raware are struggling with happy valley relegated last season...

:( :(

Hong Kong 1st Division

The league returned briefly from it’s winter break for two games in January:

v. Sha Tin (h), 1-1

This should have been an easy game but we went behind early on and looked poor in the first half. I didn’t mince my words at half-time and the team looked much better after the break. Li Wei got us back on level terms with a fine curling shot that would later win the January Goal of the Month. Alas, we were unable to get the winner despite several good chances.

v. Fukien (h), 2-0 win

Talk about kicking a team when they’re down. Poor Fukien came to us without a point or a goal all season and we beat them courtesy of two controversial efforts. First, following a tussle for the ball from a corner, a Fukien defender went down injured. As his team mates pushed up, he remained on the ground playing youngster Wong Kwok Keung onside for a tap in finish. Keung was at the centre of controversy again minutes later as he was ajudged to have handled the ball in the build up to Annan’s goal but the ref didn’t see it and we won.

Those results mean we are still 4th, a point behind Kitchee in 3rd and 2 behind 2nd-placed Citizen. South China are 3 points clear at the top (5 ahead of us) but reeling them in will be tough.

Hong Kong League Cup

Group Stage

We were handed a winable group with a trip to TSW Pegasus to be followed by a home tie with Sha Tin. The matches went as follows:

v. TSW Pegasus, 1-1

We started well but missed a couple of sitters early on as my strikers went unmarked for most crosses and corners. A rash challenge by centre back Chan Yuk Chi left us a man down but, just as we seemed set to rue those early misses, we won a penalty which li Wei dispatched. Pegasus really came at us though in the second half and got s deserved equaliser and we were really hanging on at the end.

v. Sha Tin, 3-2 win

Li Wei was in fine form in the first half, opening the scoring with a 25-yarder and adding a second from the penalty spot. Annan put us 3-0 up on the hour mark and we were cruising. A freak own goal from a deflected cross gave Sha Tin hope though and the scored another in injury time. We held on for the win but those two goals meant we would have to wait on the result of the last game to find out if we had gone through to the semis.

So, for us to go through we had to hope TSW Pegasus either dropped points against Sha Tin or only won by one goal. We got lucky as Pegasus took an early lead but were unable to score a second despite dominating most of the game, thus allowing us to top the group on goals scored.

Group Tables

Semi Final

v. Citizen, 2-1 win

A re-match from last year’s semi then against a team we had yet to beat in a competitive game. That fact meant I ignored our pre-match tag of favourites and went with a defensive line-up. That did the trick as we frustrated Citizen and grabbed a goal when Renato headed in a corner. We doubled our lead with five minutes to go as a quick counter-attack caught Citizen short at the back and sub Chan Hin Kwong tapped in at the far post. Citizen pulled one back in injury time but we secured the win and our place in the final.

We will face South China (who else? ) in the final to be played in late March.

Hong Kong F.A. Cup

The cup doesn’t start until May but the 1st Round has been drawn and we will play HKFC. That should be an easy win and, assuming we progress, we would face the winners of the Fukien-Happy Valley game in the quarter final so I think an appearance in the semis is a distinct possibility. South China are in the other half of the draw so fingers crossed we can make the final again.

Nah, Police were semi-pro once they were promoted to the Third Division, although once they were promoted to the top flight, they became professional.

Good progress Big D, hope you leapfrog Kitchee and Citizen soon. Fukien is worse than me, at least I've scored goals (own goals I mean ) and the occasional goal at the right net.

I’ll start with our big date against South China:

Hong Kong League Cup

Final

v. South China, 5-2 loss

What a disaster! We were without our first choice keeper, Lin Hon Ho, who was out with a stubbed finger (whimp! ) meaning back up Xiao Guoji would make his first start of the season. That proved our undoing as he was at fault for two of the goals (there were also two penalties and an unstoppable long-range effort) as we shipped 5 goals before half-time. Nautrally, I told the team exactly what I thought of them and Gilsinho restored a little pride with 2 second half goals. If you look at the stats in the screenshot above, you’ll see that we gave them a close game but 2 errors from the keeper and 2 bad tackles from Renato and Beto at the back cost us dear...

Hong Kong 1st Division

Two games were played in March, either side of the League Cup final:

v. Citizen (a), 4-1 win

Played just a week after the League Cup semi final, Citizen were out for quick revenge. The should have remembered, however, that revenge is a dish best served cold. We went behind through an own goal from our keeper in the first half but we were always the better side. A slick passing move allowed Gilsinho to equalise early in the second half; Renato then gave us the lead from a header; Lui Chi hing proved Citizen had learned nothing from their mistake in the semi final as he smashed in a shot from the edge of the area following a quick break; and Annan completed the rout moments after the third goal as he picked up on a defensive error to get ono-on-one with the keeper and cooly finish.

v. South China (h), 2-1 loss

Just three days after the League Cup final, we faced South China again. A similar woeful first half performance to the cup game occurred here but with Hon Ho back in goal and my defenders playing more carefully, we only conceded one goal as opposed to five. Our second half performance was much better (again) but South China doubled their lead with a goal on the break. Gilsinho again did his best and pulled one back but the equaliser never came. We had chances to level the game with Annan and Li Wei going close but it was not to be...

The win over Citizen moved us up to 2nd but defeat to South China caused us to drop back to 4th, now 8 points behind the leaders with 6 games to play.

Current Standings*

*(note the last two games have done nothing to improve poor old Fukien's situation)

Despite the loss to South China, Chun Sze Wing and Li Wei were deemed good enough for the March Team of the Month. Gilsinho also won Goal of the Month for his equaliser against Citizen, the 3rd month out of 5 that a Tai Po player has won that award this season!

South China...once again, the bane of your time spent in HK! Although there's still 6 games left, I reckon it's gonna be tough to catch Shaolin Temple now. Still, 2nd is well within your grasp and Conf. Cup qualification for next year is a real possibility (and the money that goes with it!) Still no win for Fukien though Just a quick question - Are Fukien still part-time on your save? I'm in my 4th season now and we still haven't turned professional.

Good luck for the rest of the season and with the FA Cup Let's hope you can finally beat South China and bring some silverware back to the new territories (don't want to jinx you!)

The season is now over and here’s how it played out:

Hong Kong 1st Division

v. TM Progoal (a), 0-0

Big disappointment as we could have gone back to 2nd with a win here after Citizen and Kitchee played out a draw earlier in the day.

v. Sun Hei (a), 2-1 win

We went behind in the first half and it looked as though our winless run would continue but second half goals from Gilsinho and Annan secured the win.

v. Rangers (HKG) (h), 2-0 win

Gilsinho set us on our way with a goal after 24 seconds. So Loi Keung added the second from a corner before halftime and after that we just cruised.

v. Kitchee (a), 3-0 loss

Just as we were starting to break clear in 2nd place, a disasterous result that allowed Kitchee to move level with us. It was all going well until Li Wei gave away a penalty midway through the 2nd half. We were then hit on the break twice late on as we searched for a way back into the game..

v. TSW Pegasus (h), 4-0 win

A return to winning ways following our cup shocker (see below). Gilsinho, Renato, Adonis and So Loi Keung provided the goals as we stayed in touch with the battle for 2nd going into the final game.

v. Sha Tin (a), 1-0 win

A hard fought win came courtesy of an Annan header in the first half. Crucially, the win allowed us to overtake Citizen in 2nd place one head-to-head results. Kitchee then stuffed up the next day going down 4-3 at home to Sun Hei to allow us to finish as runners-up and get back into the Confederation Cup for next season!

Our end of season form earned some of the lads spots in the teams of the month: April saw Zhang Chi selected and Chan Sze Wing, Lui Chi Hing and Adonis made the May team.

Final Table – so we come 2nd, 9 points behind champions South China. Spare a thought for Fukien who went down without scoring a single goal. They didn’t even score in the cups, their best performance coming when they forced extra time in the Senior Shield 1st Round before getting beat 2-0.

Hong Kong FA Cup

1st Round

v. HKFC, 1-1 (HKFC win 5-4 on penalties)

Shocking. We should have won in normal time but conceded a silly goal. We should have won in extra time but Annan missed an open goal. We should have won on penalties but Adonis bottled the penalty that would have out us through and HKFC went on to win in sudden death.

End of season round-up to come at some point in the near future.

Competitions

Domestic

Hong Kong 1st Division: 2nd

FA Cup: 1st Round

League Cup: Finalists

Senior Shield: Semi-finalists

FA Cup embarassment and League Cup final thrashing aside, a good season. The squad is stronger than last season and we deserved to be 2nd. All that was lacking was a piece of silverware but South China are just too good at the moment as they completed a clean sweep of the domestic trophies and only lost the Confederation Cup on penalties!

Key Players

Li Wei (MC) – again, scored and provided from his central midfield role. After two seasons at the club, he is now eligible for Hong Kong nationality, which will help u no end in next seasons Confederation Cup.

Adonis (MR) – performed consistently again and initiated many attacking moves, even if he rarely played the final ball. His overall performance earned him the Fans’ Player of the year award.

Christian Annan (ST) – not quite as prolific as last season as Gilsinho became the main striker but still effective and a key member of the team.

Lui Chi Hing (MC) – again, solid in the holding role and sure in the pass.

Renato (DC) –solid as a rock at the back and proivded depth in defence that we lacked last season.

Gilsinho (ST) – made us look like a different team as he harassed defences inside and outside of the box. Picked as signing of the season too. I just wish he was ten years younger!

Awards

The following awards featured Tai Po players:

Hong Kong 1st Division Goal of the Month – Lui Chi Hing (September), Li Wei (January), Gilsinho (March)

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Month (October) – Chan Sze Wing, Adonis, Gilsinho

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Month (November) – Chan Sze Wing, Renato, Adonis

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Month (March) – Chan Sze Wing, Li Wei

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Month (April) – Zhang Chi

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Month (May) – Chan Sze Wing, Adonis, Lui Chi Hing

Hong Kong 1st Division Team of the Year – Chan Sze Wing, Renato, Adonis, Li Wei, Gilsinho (sub), Christian Annan (sub)

The Season Ahead...

I would like to actually win something with Tai Po before I move on but I’m monitioring the avaialable jobs to see if anything interesting comes up. I’ve applied to a few national U-21 ad U-19 sides so we’ll see if anything comes of that. If I stay, catching South China has to be the aim. Whether or not it can be done is another matter of course! South China, Citizen and some other clubs have let a lot of players go after their contracts expired so I’ll be scouting them to see if I can add some domestic depth to the squad. From the freebies I’ve already signed the following two players:

Chan Wai Ho (DC) – a squad player from South China who should proivde us with cover when I need extra Hong Kong players in the squad.

Sidrailson (DC) – also in from South China, the Brazilian will hopefully form a tight partnership with Renato at the back. As he’s already been here a few seasons, he will be eligible for citizenship in 3 years’ time.

I also activated the future fee clause in Huang Zhiyi’s loan deal. As he has been here a year already, he should get citizenship at the end of the next season.

Link to Youth Player Update

Apart from the cups, a very good season there DodgeeD

Nice updates, Big D. Fwiw, how are Knockbreda doing?

A decent season DodgeeD even if the cups were disappointing. It's always going to be tough to topple South China due to the strong financial situation they're in and the wages they're allowed to offer, but at least you claimed the other Confederation Cup place; and as Fukien...well, the less said the better

Just one thing, without sounding pedantic. In the season summary, the link to the table is the game where you went out to HKFC. Other than that though, good luck for next season...where ever you'll be.

Nice updates, Big D. Fwiw, how are Knockbreda doing?

It seems thye have become quite the cup team. 2009/10 saw them reach the Intermediate Cup quarter finals and in 2010/11 they reached the Intermediate Cup final and the Irish Cup semis, both times beaten 1-0 by Ards (with both matches coming within a week of each other).

A decent season DodgeeD even if the cups were disappointing. It's always going to be tough to topple South China due to the strong financial situation they're in and the wages they're allowed to offer, but at least you claimed the other Confederation Cup place; and as Fukien...well, the less said the better

Just one thing, without sounding pedantic. In the season summary, the link to the table is the game where you went out to HKFC. Other than that though, good luck for next season...where ever you'll be.

Link now fixed. I always seem to botch at least one up for some reason.

You'll be pleased to know that, although Fukien went down setting all the wrong kind of records, Happy Valley are back after just a season out of the top flight.

I'm nearing the end of the transfer window now but it's been a frustrating summer. I wasn't able to bring in any more freebies and the board won't give me a transfer budget even though I did a rancer and got some European teams in (Monaco, Atalanta and Panathinakos answered the call) to raise some cash (575k in total - we even managed to beat Monaco to finish 3rd). They have, however, finally agreed to upgrade facilities.

In other news, Li Wei is now a citizen of Hong Kong. I'm encouraged by his statement that he wished to play for Hong Kong in the future as he has to stay here for 3 more years to be eligible (some foriegn clubs have been scouting him it seems). Also, South China have been trying to unsettle Renato but he has repeatedly stated to the press that he's not interested and has just signed a 2-year extension to his current deal.

My latest youth player update is here.

Update on the first half of the new season coming up

We’ve reached the winter break in the league and this is how the season has panned out so far:

Hong Kong 1st Division

September

v. Kitchee (a), 1-0 win

We played a tight defensive game, looking for breaks and set plays to gain an advantage and that’s what we got as Gilsinho scored from a well-taken free kick for the games only goal.

v. Tai Chung (h), 1-0 win

We didn’t give our opponents a single chance to score but our finishing ws pretty poor at the other end. On another day, it could have been 5 or 6-0 but we had to settle for an Adonis goal to win this time.

v. Happy Valley (a), 2-1 win

An Annan brace helped us to a comfortable win with Happy Valley never really threatening despite thier late consolation goal.

Adonis was chosen for the September Team of the Month.

October

v. TSW Pegasus (h), 2-0 win

Gilsinho set us on the way with an early goal. Despite having a man sent off, we were able to control the game and add a second through Adonis late on.

v. TM Progoal (a), 1-0 win

Again, we were in control throughout the match, hardly giving our opponents a sniff. A Gilsinho header just after half-time got us the three points.

v. Sun Hei (h), 0-0

First points dropped as we played poorly for the first time this season. Renato saved us with a goaline clearance but Annan cost us as he missed a sitter in injury time.

Chan Sze Wing was our guy in the October Team of the Month.

November

v. Citizen (a), 2-1 loss

We started well with a goal from Gilsinho but a bizarre own goal by our goalie put Citizen level at half-time. They pushed forward in the last 20 minutes and got the winner though a cheeky lob to leapfrog us at the top of the table.

v. Rangers (HKG) (h), 2-0 win

Annan and Gilsinho got the goals with close range headers. Overall, a slightly disappointing performance considering we had 24 attempts on goal!

Adonis again made the November Team of the Month.

Current Standings – We are level on points with Citizen but they are top due to that win over us. A big surprise so far has been South China with 2 defeats already. As you may have noticed from the matches above, we have yet to play them so those two games will be key in determining our success this season.

Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield

Quarter final

v. TSW Pegasus, 2-1 win

An own goal gave us a first half lead before a stunning team goal put TSW Pegasus back in it. We held firm though and Adonis got the winner with ten minutes left following a goalmouth scramble.

Semi final

v. South China, 3-2 loss

Another cup, another defeat at the hands of the boys from the Temple. This time, just to make it even more frustrating, we out-played them for large portions of the match but a mad ten minutes before half-time saw us concede 3, which made Gilsinho’s opener and late header irrelevant.

Transfer News

I picked up a couple of free agents once the season was underway. Gerardo comes in to bolster the defence/midfield ahead of the Confederation Cup campaign and Indio came in to offer more options up front fter he was released by his South Korean club. Neither has had a huge impact yet but I hope they will settle in and start producing soon.

Just a brief league update and a look at our League Cup campaign (also brief ):

Hong Kong 1st Division

v. South China (h), 0-0

A missed opportunity as South China had 5 players out injured and were there for the taking. My defence was solid and my midfield creative but my strikers were having an off day and failed to take the numerous chances presented to them.

v. Kitchee (h), 1-1

More ground lost on Citizen. Again, we had the chances to win but... I think I need new strikers.

That means we are 2nd, 4 points behind Citizen and 1 ahead of South China. Adonis was our best performer again as he was named in the January Team of the Month.

Hong Kong League Cup

Group Stage

v. TSW Pegasus, 1-0 loss

Our strikers let us down again as we had 10 chances to our opponents’ none (Gilsinho managed to score at the wrong end when defending a corner). A red card for Renato prevented us from pushing for the equaliser.

v. Tai Chung, 1-1 draw

A dead rubber as TSW Pegagsus had already beaten Tai Chung to confirm their qualification before this game. I gave some squd players a run-out and a lacklusture performance saw another disappointing draw...

Now we turn our attention back to the league and I hope my players can pick their form up for the title run-in. We also have the Confederation Cup to look forward to and I’m hoping for a successful group stage to rais the club’s profile (as well as my own )

Hong Kong F.A. Cup

This just in: when the FA Cup starts in May, we get a chance for revenge on HKFC for last year's early exit. With South China, Citizen and Kitchee in the other half of the draw, we have to aim for the final a least.

Nothing wrong with childish jokes...with a name like that, he deserves it! I wonder if he got picked on at school! It'll be interesting to see how you do with the Solomon Islands considering how poor they are. What are their expectations?

As for Tai Po, good luck for the remainder of the season and the game against HKFC. Hope you get your revenge!

I've seen the Vanuatu job come open a couple of times in my save. Don't think Solomon Islands have though.