[FM11] Crazy Canuck on Global Managerial Tour - This is the Big One!!!

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2026-2027 Season Preview

Media Prediction: 1st
Estimated Value: $96 million (1st in Ukraine, 55th in the world)
EpiCentre Premyer-Liha Expectations: win it
UEFA Champions League Expectations: reach 1st Knockout Round
Kubok Ukraini: don't care
Inter Superkubok Ukraini: don't care
TV rights: $819k
Transfer Budget: $39 million
Wage Budget: $77 million (currently spending $54,061,807)

[rancer890]

Can I have Yavorskyi? He looks well-rounded.

Nah you can't have him. I need him to make sure I have enough Ukrainians on the squad. I'm already hard pressed to find HG players at Shakhtar and Ukraine.

[B.W.G]

Another good season in Shakhtar Good luck in the champions league.

[rancer890]

2026 World Cup - Hosts: Mexico

Group Stage

Group A - Mexico, Japan, Scotland, New Zealand
Group B - Canada, South Africa, Germany, Romania (defeated Romania and Germany, lost to S. Africa!)
Group C - Chile, Nigeria, Spain, France
Group D - England, Greece, Honduras, Paraguay
Group E - Brazil, Netherlands, Iran, Tunisia
Group F - Turkey, Ghana, Poland, USA (lost all three games!)
Group G - Argentina, Cameroon, Sweden, Saudi Arabia
Group H - Russia, Italy, Colombia, South Korea

Second Round

South Africa 2-3 Mexico
Japan (p) 0-0 Canada
Chile 3-1 Greece
England 1-2 Nigeria
Brazil 1-0 Ghana
Netherlands 0-1 Turkey
Italy 0-2 Argentina
Cameroon 1-3 Russia

Quarter-Final

Mexico 5-1 Nigeria
Japan 0-3 Chile
Brazil 6-1 Russia
Turkey 1-0 Argentina

Semi-Final

Mexico 4-1 Turkey
Chile 0-3 Brazil

3rd Place Playoff

Turkey (e) 2-1 Chile

Final

Mexico 1-0 Brazil

So the hosts win it in the Azteca. Couldn't have had a better ending for them. Nice to see a CONCACAF team win the world cup too.

---

South Korea sacked their manager. I applied for that job.

[rancer890]

Nearly forgot to add that the 2034 World Cup to going to China. YAY!

[AK22]

Who would have thought that only Russia and Turkey would make it to Quarter Finals out of all the UEFA European nations? A lot of managers must have been sacked!

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2026 Off-season Transfers

Not a lot of activity, considering my squad is already big enough to begin with!

Transfers

Adriy Datsyuk - loaned to give some depth and another Ukrainian on the squad

Sergiy Borysyuk - good free signing who should be a solid 3rd striker

Marcelino - given on loan from parent club Inter. He has done a very good job so far with us

Turgay Maden - signed for striker depth, and he's pretty good too

----

Champions League

We went into the Champions League Best Placed Playoff, which meant we would face a tough team, which we did in Portuguese club Benfica, but we defeated them 6-0 on aggregate after winning 4-0 at home, and 2-0 on the road. Now, onto the group stage draw

Group Stages

We have a fighting chance to advance, although parent club Leverkusen and Bordeaux are no pushovers. At least no Barca/Real/City for once.

---

I didn't get the South Korea job btw, and I got offered Nigeria but rejected that.

[rancer890]

Who would have thought that only Russia and Turkey would make it to Quarter Finals out of all the UEFA European nations? A lot of managers must have been sacked!

From the top of my head, I know Germany's, Spain's, and France's managers got sacked. It was a really wild World Cup and I was shocked to see the results, and Canada at the top of the group. Who knows how real life football would be like in 15 years from now.

[DSYoungEsq]

Not Canada topping their group, that much I can put a fiver on right now.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2026-2027 End of Season Review

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 - fantastic season and I'm hoping for something that's been never done before next season!

Kubok Ukrainil - Winners - a scare in the 2nd round, but smooth sailing from there, including disposing rivals Dynamo Kyiv in the final, 6-0.

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage Fixtures - a slightly more forgiving draw this time around, and shocked even myself by getting to the knockout rounds. We were unbeaten at home, but couldn't get it home on the road, and lost 4-1 to Man City on aggregate in the 1st Knockout Round

Transfers - Made some transfers, but half of them didn't really contribute, which were pretty much the Ukrainians I needed in case of Ukrainian depth because of the foreign quota

Marcelino - sent to us from Inter, he was a good contributer to the team all season

Oleg Kuzminov - signed as backup, albeit an expensive backup...

Francis Sangare - I had this guy on my shortlist all season but I didn't want to deal with his agent. So, to my delight after he fired his agent (good decision Francis!) I signed him to a 2.5 year contract on very cheap wages. I know he's another foreigner but I couldn't pass him up and didn't want him to retire

Squad 1 Squad 2 - Probably my best squad yet at Shakhtar! Onwards and upwards next season!

Top Goalscorer - Domingo Taffarel

Top Playmaker - Domingo Taffarel

Most Consistent Player - Afredo Rossi

Most Valuable Player - Taffarel. He was average in the Champions League but he really made an impact on the domestic side of things

Awards

• Top Goalscorer
• Team of the Year

Finances: - Finances

Affiliations: - Affiliations

If I had a wish...win 30 league games, get back to the Knockout Rounds of Champions League. I got a new player coming in who should be as good if not better than Taffarel so hopefully that works out. I'm looking to make an impact in the Champions League and be a top 8 club.

We are losing a spot in the Best Placed Qualifying Rounds to Austria, which is a shame. So we'll be trying to qualify through the Champions bracket, because Metalist and Kyiv are absolutely hopeless in Europe and we're the only team to make it to the group stages of both European competitions (the price for domestic domination I guess). We're also probably a 3rd seed in the Champions League group stage if we make it (which we should), depending on how the other teams do, so the top 2 seeds will probably be better than Bordeaux and Leverkusen next time around.

Summary

Year        Team               Country       League           Position                      Notes and Info
2010-2011   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       3rd        Championship Playoff Winners
2011-2012   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd      Championship Playoff Finalists
2012-2013   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2013-2014   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2014-2015   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd  NZFC Finalists, O-League Champions
2016        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Yi League             1st                 Yi League Champions
2017        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Jia League            1st                Jia League Champions
2018        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          8th                                 N/A
2019        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          2nd                   ACL Qualification
2020        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2021        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2022        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st            ACL Winners, CWC Winners
2022-2023   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                5th                                 N/A
2023-2024   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                2nd                           Promotion
2024-2025   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2025-2026   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2026-2027   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup

[rancer890]

And here's stats with goals from corners in Premyer-Liha, and goals from corners in Champions League. Rossi got all his goals from corners or free kicks, but not all goals scored directly on a header. Some were tap-ins from rebounds, in case you were wondering about how he gets so many goals. Everything is on default fyi,

[Raware]

Total domination! A nice unbeaten season there rancer and great work on reaching the knockout stages of the CL. It's always good to have the corner stats too, to prove those doubters wrong about defenders scoring! .

[rancer890]

Total domination! A nice unbeaten season there rancer and great work on reaching the knockout stages of the CL. It's always good to have the corner stats too, to prove those doubters wrong about defenders scoring! .

Cheers Raware! And Rossi never scored more than one goal in a game too. Taffarel and Gad had some hat-tricks which is perfectly normal considering they are strikers.

I think it's the first time I've had an unbeaten season in FM. Hoping for more of the same next season.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2027-2028 Season Preview

Media Prediction: 1st
Estimated Value: $105 million (1st in Ukraine, 53rd in the world)
EpiCentre Premyer-Liha Expectations: win it
UEFA Champions League Expectations: reach Group Stage
Kubok Ukraini: don't care
Inter Superkubok Ukraini: don't care
TV rights: $921k
Transfer Budget: $30.5 million
Wage Budget: $77 million (currently spending $59,917,829)

[Flamers]

Basically win everything then? :P

Flamers

[rancer890]

Not Canada topping their group, that much I can put a fiver on right now.

Ugh we win our world cup group, and what do we do against the best of the best in CONCACAF against Mexico in the 2027 Gold Cup Final? Get destroyed 7-0.

[rancer890]

Basically win everything then? :P

Flamers

Pretty much Flamers. The only thing the board haven't asked us to do is to win every single game.

It's absolutely frustrating though due to our strong performance our European ranking went down (league and club wise)...

Our TV rights went up $100k too! Hopefully it'll get to $1 million next season.

[Flamers]

OOOHH Lucky you

Nezt season will be win every game, they have planned ahead

Flamers

[AK22]

Fantastic season, remaining unbeaten and only conceding 8 goals too. Quite an achievement in my book!

[DSYoungEsq]

So when are you leaving Donetsk?

[rancer890]

Fantastic season, remaining unbeaten and only conceding 8 goals too. Quite an achievement in my book!

Cheers mate.

So when are you leaving Donetsk?

Not sure, will see how this season goes, although it hasn't been going to plan so far...I had rejected one offer this summer and I'm quite happy with my progress at Shakhtar as a whole.

Oh and Canada sacked their manager (Atiba Hutchinson) after a bad Copa America, and once again, they didn't hire me and got a newgen crap coach! Fine CSA, be that way!

[True_Blue_Dunk]

What a story. Just read the wholoe thing thing from the start and it took me 30 mins but delighteed i did as it is stunning !! WELL DONE

[rancer890]

What a story. Just read the wholoe thing thing from the start and it took me 30 mins but delighteed i did as it is stunning !! WELL DONE

Cheers mate.

Another update should be coming soon...

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2027 Offseason Transfers

Transfers

Some big signings this off-season.

Maximiliano Magnoli - the big signing. $27 million from Zenit is a lot, scoring 98 goals in 141 league appearances. Little concerning he has more yellow cards than goals though...and has that 'me first' attitude in the dressing room...

Sergio Testa - loan signing from Inter. He has well done so far at Shakhtar

Ruslan Zakharov - the big signing. He has 4.5 star potential and I intend to develop him as a striker. I've even taken over the U19s to develop him properly.

Konstatin Skoblyakov - he doesn't have 4.5 star potential, but 2.5-3 star is not bad for $500k, considering our horrible youth facilities haven't produced anyone decent in a while (since 2025).

Leaving the club were some unsigned youths.

---

Future Transfer:

Julien Guillemin - for $6.25 million. I think he will be a very very very good player. I'm especially ecstatic because I beat out Chelsea for this signing.

---

UEFA Champions League

Group Stages

Not a bad group. There's Manchester United, but we're on par with Ajax, and there M.Haifa. We can finish 2nd here.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2027-2028 End of Season Review

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 - A bit of a surprise result in the first match, but we righted the ship after and smooth sailing after a few games to another title.

Kubok Ukrainil - Winners - Another more or less straightforward path with a minor scare to the final, another solid win

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage | Fixtures - Wow, what a fantastic run here. I didn't expect to win the group, but I did. A little luck on our side as we faced the 'easiest' teams in the First Knockout Round and Quarter-Final. I knew we probably had to face either Real or Barca eventually, and we did face both in the end...it's exciting that I took them to the final, although we didn't have anything to show, with a 2-0 loss. We lost Gad (suspension), Mele (injury), and Rogerio (injury) before the final so I really didn't think we had much of a chance, but we played well given the circumstances. When you have Thiago, winner of 7 consecutive Ballon d'Or trophies, it kind of makes life hard on the opposition, and we were no exception. All in all, I'm really happy with our accomplishments in the Champions League, although it still hurts to lose in the final because I don't know when I can get back here with Shakhtar.

Transfers - Couple for the present, 3 for the future

Maximiliano Magnoli - the big signing, but he was a disappointment. And some players don't like him, which isn't really helpful...

Sergio Testa - loaned from parent club Inter, and he did well. Unlike our other parent club Leverkusen, Inter actually send me good first-team players (Henrique, Marcelino)

Ruslan Zakharov - I see BIG potential from this guy. I even managed the U21's to develop him. He's going to be the next great striker for Ukraine.

Konstantin Skoblyakov - he doesn't have the potential of Zakharov, but he's only 16, and with the right develop, he can be a starter for Shakhtar and Ukraine

Valentin Kharkov - young centre back with great potential. US$1.5 million isn't a lot of money to invest for a potential leading Premyer-Liha centre back

Squad 1 Squad 2 - this squad is stronger than last year, although I would love to acquire a world class left back (which obviously means another foreigner). I'm letting Bastianini go so I can further develop my young Ukrainian players

Top Goalscorer - Mohammad Gad

Top Playmaker - Mohammad Gad

Most Consistent Player - Mohammad Gad

Most Valuable Player - Gad, he was fantastic all season

Awards

• Top Goalscorer
• Team of the Year

Finances: - Finances

Affiliations: - Affiliations

If I had a wish... much of the same! I would love to get back to the Champions League final, but we'll see! I signed a 3 year extension to the end of the 2030-2031 season because I'm really happy at Shakhtar!

Summary

Year        Team               Country       League           Position                      Notes and Info
2010-2011   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       3rd        Championship Playoff Winners
2011-2012   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd      Championship Playoff Finalists
2012-2013   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2013-2014   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2014-2015   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd  NZFC Finalists, O-League Champions
2016        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Yi League             1st                 Yi League Champions
2017        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Jia League            1st                Jia League Champions
2018        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          8th                                 N/A
2019        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          2nd                   ACL Qualification
2020        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2021        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2022        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st            ACL Winners, CWC Winners
2022-2023   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                5th                                 N/A
2023-2024   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                2nd                           Promotion
2024-2025   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2025-2026   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2026-2027   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2027-2028   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st     Domestic Double + UCL Finalists

[rancer890]

And post #2 updated as usual with lovely managerial stats and stuff.

[offen94]

The jump from FSV Frankfurt to Shakhtar Donetsk is massive, you must have had an unusually large reputation. This is one great career you've had!

[AndrewFM]

Just had a read through your career rancer and wish I had read this before congrats with the success at Shaktar, I look forward to future updates

[rancer890]

The jump from FSV Frankfurt to Shakhtar Donetsk is massive, you must have had an unusually large reputation. This is one great career you've had!

I guess winning the Club World Championship helped! I started with semi-pro rep.

IIRC, after I got promoted to the 2.Bundesliga, Shakhtar's previous manager retired so they immediately offered me the job. Surprisingly, FSV Frankfurt are still doing very well in the 2.Bundesliga, in a spot for title challenger, and although I could have gotten them to the top flight and probably get a really good job, I wouldn't trade my experiences at Shakhtar for anything.

As for my other clubs, Henan have won lots of league titles since my departure, and went to the ACL semi's once. Anhui have managed to stay in the CSL, and Auckland City are doing okay too, although they're the big team in the O-League.

Just had a read through your career rancer and wish I had read this before congrats with the success at Shaktar, I look forward to future updates

Cheers Andrew. I hope for even more success here as I try to build this team to compete with Europe's best every year.

[AK22]

Another incredible season, well done, especially getting to final of the Champions League! Hopefully, you'll go one better next season!

Plenty of money in the bank to keep you going too!

[rancer890]

Another incredible season, well done, especially getting to final of the Champions League! Hopefully, you'll go one better next season!

Plenty of money in the bank to keep you going too!

Cheers and hopefully we do, we had a really kind draw throughout the competition...although it was a shock to beat Real Madrid.

As for the money, we lost money every month, we only made a slight loss because of all the Champions League revenue we received.

But good news, we are definitely a 2nd seed next season when we make the Group Stages (our coefficient is over 100) which should be easier for the future with only one big club to worry about instead of 2.

[Raware]

A fantastic season rancer! . So unlucky in the Champions League final but having a player like Thiago on the opposition is always going to be difficult! So, what are yours and the boards expectation for the Champions League next season? Obviously to win it would be great (especially for a Ukranian side) but realistically I mean?

[rancer890]

Not yet sure about the board's expectations, but I want a top 8 finish in Champions League, so quarter-finals is my goal. I really think I can compete with any team in Europe (if we're at our full strength side).

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2028-2029 Season Preview

Media Prediction: 1st
Estimated Value: $123 million (1st in Ukraine, 42nd in the world)
EpiCentre Premyer-Liha Expectations: win it
UEFA Champions League Expectations: reach 1st Knockout Round
Kubok Ukraini: don't care
Inter Superkubok Ukraini: don't care
TV rights: $819k
Transfer Budget: $30.5 million
Wage Budget: $77 million (currently spending $63,338,503)

[DSYoungEsq]

Good luck this year! I'm touting you for the UCL Championship. Got a fiver here that says you win.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2028 Offseason Transfers

Transfers

Not a lot of movement, just minor signings (for now)

Marquinhos Parana - young 18 year old with potential, although as you see later, not sure if he'll develop into more than a backup...

Andriy Datsyuk - had him for 2 years already if you have been following my save (), but this is the first year he's been starting regularly. He's been a nice free signing so far, and he's Ukrainian as another bonus

Bogdan Kundenok - young player with 3 star potential

---

Future Transfer:

Marcelo Carioca - been scouting Brazil for some U18 player and found him. I signed him on a whooping $15 million transfer, but a contract till 2033 for less than $2 million a year. Not bad stats for a 16 year old.

I will probably continue my transfer of signing U18 players onto the team. I'm making a serious run to compete in the present and the future. I'm pretty much set with Zakharov and Carioca at the striker positions, since Tafarrel (and probably Magnoli since he's been a total bust and he's the most likely candidate to be moved) will leave by then, and Gad can be the 3rd option.

And I'm also trying to acquire elite Ukrainian talent and developing them. Zakharov is so talented I already have him on my first team! More on him later though. The future is very bright.

---

UEFA Champions League

Group Stages

2nd seed!!!

And a decent group to boot. I avoid a big team, but I haven't beaten Bordeaux so they will be tough. HSV is a dark horse, and I can't sleep on CFR Cluj either. As long as we get the results we're supposed to get, we will go to the Knockout Rounds of the Champions League.

[rancer890]

Also forgot to add that we're the only Ukrainian club in Europe again...Karpaty, Kyiv, and Metalist all failed to advance past the Europa League 4th Qualifying Round. Sigh, thanks guys, our nation coefficient is probably going to go down again.

[Flamers]

Good luck

[rancer890]

Good luck

Cheers Flamers...the only problem isn't the losing, but the laptop have some minor trouble trying to process things in-game quickly.

So hopefully I can keep this save going for a little longer until I find a new laptop/desktop (6 cores processor with 4GB Ram, ATI 1GB HD5770 card, although I would prefer a NVIDIA card, liquid CPU cooling...along other nice goodies, or double the RAM and a NVIDIA card for another $100 ) to hopefully continue this save smoothly (and play some other games!!!)

I'll be doing a feature on Ruslan Zakharov soon. I'm really excited about his potential with Shakhtar (once again, provided I can simulate the next few years in this laptop quick enough for him to reach it!)

[rancer890]

rancer890's Youth Project

Player Spotlight - Ruslan Zakharov

Date of Birth: February 27, 2011
Place of Birth: Avdeivka, Ukraine
Languages Spoken: Russian, Ukrainian
Favoured Clubs: None
Favoured Personnel: Mohammad Gad, Ricky Nakano, Oleg Gusev
Agent: Eugene Vaschuk
Description: Striker
Personality: Fairly Determined
Reputation: National
Media Handling Style: Level-headed

Main Position: ST
Other Position(s): AMC, MC
Left Foot: Reasonable
Right Foot: Very Strong

PPMs: Runs with ball down right, argues with officials, plays one-twos, avoids using weaker foot

Initial Profile after signing
End of Season 1 - Profile

Career Stats

Year     Club          Nation     League        Apps   Goals  Assists Rating
2027-28  Metalurg Zp   Ukraine    Persha Liha     1      0        1     5.90
2028-29  Shakhtar      Ukraine    Premyer-Liha   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career Totals

Player Notes: I monitored his progress in the U21's all season and didn't disappoint me. He's already on the 1st team this season.

[AK22]

He looks amazing for a 17 year old! Big potential!

[Flamers]

He looks less happy though :P

Might want to try and get rid of argues with officials if you can...

[rancer890]

He looks amazing for a 17 year old! Big potential!

Cheers! He's already capped for Ukraine so he's the next big player for them.

He looks less happy though :P

Might want to try and get rid of argues with officials if you can...

I had him tutored by Gad, so he kind of picked up that PPM...

--

Still no one has noticed something. Won't tell but you just need to be a little more observant...

[Tony Hawker]

His date of birth was today I think thats it

[Blue_magic]

Great save you have got there.

[rancer890]

His date of birth was today I think thats it

Yay, we have a winner.

Great save you have got there.

Cheers Blue_magic, hopefully I can keep this going because it's been my longest career game save and the most enjoyable in all the years I've played FM.

[rancer890]

Okay, there's currently a minor(-ish) problem. This save has always crashed every once in a while, but now it's crashing between 10-14 days in game...so if I remember to save (or probably put on autosave) this career can probably continue a few more years on the current laptop before I get a new desktop (probably a couple months if this laptop can handle a few more years in this save).

The save is already 466MB so I think that's quite an accomplishment!

[rancer890]

Champions League final

No mood for a full update, so just going to go to the main point. I'm not going to accept losing for another year.

I don't wanna become like the Buffalo Bills with 4 consecutive Super Bowl losses.

[Flamers]

Get some better penalty takers? :P

[rancer890]

Get some better penalty takers? :P

Yes that's actually my plan for the summer. Get some penalty taker specialists. Or hire a penalty coach if it's possible!

Now the bright side, Zakharov is a little older and with a full league of games under his belt hopefully we'll get there a 3rd time with him maturing another year (and fingers crossed no one tries to unsettle him in 2 transfer windows...)

[AK22]

Harsh result. Istanbul and penalty shootouts are becoming synonynous!

[AcidBurn]

Just been catching up with this thread, great read as usual rancer.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2028-2029 End of Season Review

Standings | Past Positions | Fixtures 1 Fixtures 2 - A fantastic season, with only 2 losses, and a new league record with goals scored in a season

Kubok Ukrainil - Winners - Not a walk in the park, but we got the job done in the final

UEFA Champions League - Group Stage | Fixtures - we had another fantastic run to the final, but we came up short on penalties. The big highlight include the shock 6-1 aggregate win against Barca (wish that happened in the final last year!) We lost Vidal and Mele, which really hurt our chances.

Transfers - Once again, more minor changes

Marquinhos Parana - young striker with good potential (3 stars), won't play many games for a couple years though with our depth at that position

Adriy Datsyuk - young AMC who had a hot start to the season and really played well for us. I will sell him when his value is high if I get the right offer.

Bogdan Kundenok - another young Ukrainian with 2.5 star potential

Squad - it's my best squad yet, but it will get a bit better next season!

Top Goalscorer - Mohammad Gad

Top Playmaker - Yuriy Perepelytsya

Most Consistent Player - Alfredo Rossi

Most Valuable Player - Gad, he didn't score as much near the end of the season, but overall he was great

Awards

• Top Goalscorer
• Team of the Year

Finances: - Finances

Affiliations: - Affiliations

If I had a wish...win Champions League.

Games of the Year - Shakhtar 5-0 Barcelona, and Zakarpattya 0-8 Shakhtar

Summary

Year        Team               Country       League           Position                      Notes and Info
2010-2011   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       3rd        Championship Playoff Winners
2011-2012   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd      Championship Playoff Finalists
2012-2013   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2013-2014   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       1st  NZFC Champions, O-League Champions
2014-2015   Auckland City FC   New Zealand   ASB Premiership       2nd  NZFC Finalists, O-League Champions
2016        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Yi League             1st                 Yi League Champions
2017        Anhui Jiufang FC   China         Jia League            1st                Jia League Champions
2018        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          8th                                 N/A
2019        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          2nd                   ACL Qualification
2020        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2021        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st                   ACL Qualification
2022        Henan Jianye FC    China         Super League          1st            ACL Winners, CWC Winners
2022-2023   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                5th                                 N/A
2023-2024   FSV Frankfurt      Germany       3.Liga                2nd                           Promotion
2024-2025   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2025-2026   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2026-2027   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st    Domestic Double - League and Cup
2027-2028   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st      Domestic Double, UCL Finalists
2028-2029   Shakhtar Donetsk   Ukraine       Premyer-Liha          1st      Domestic Double, UCL Finalists

[rancer890]

rancer890's Youth Project

Player Spotlight - Ruslan Zakharov

Date of Birth: February 27, 2011
Place of Birth: Avdeivka, Ukraine
Ukrainian Caps/Goals: 5 caps/1 goal
International Debut: vs Italy (September 2, 2028)
First International Goal: vs Finland (February 7, 2029)
Languages Spoken: Russian, Ukrainian
Favoured Clubs: None
Favoured Personnel: Mohammad Gad, Ricky Nakano, Ricardo Carvalho, Paul Slateri, Cesar Peixoto, Emmanuel Mayuka, Oleg Gusev
Agent: Eugene Vaschuk
Description: Explosive Striker
Personality: Fairly Determined
Reputation: Continental
Media Handling Style: Level-headed

Main Position: ST
Other Position(s): AMC, MC
Left Foot: Reasonable
Right Foot: Very Strong

PPMs: Runs with ball down right, argues with officials, plays one-twos, avoids using weaker foot

Initial Profile after signing
End of Season 1 - Profile
End of Season 2 - Profile

Career Stats

Year     Club          Nation     League        Apps   Goals  Assists  MoM Rating
2027-28  Metalurg Zp   Ukraine    Persha Liha     1      0        1     0   5.90
2028-29  Shakhtar      Ukraine    Premyer-Liha   42     18       12     6   7.36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Career Totals                                    43     18       13     6   7.32

Player Notes: A great season, he mostly split his time as a striker (20 games), and a centre midfielder (17), with a handful (5) of games at a AMC

[Flamers]

He's looking a lot more rounded now

[rancer890]

He's looking a lot more rounded now

He's got stronger this season which is a plus. Hopefully he can improve his technical ability and natural fitness next season.

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2029-2030 Season Preview

Media Prediction: 1st
Estimated Value: $156 million (1st in Ukraine, 29th in the world)
EpiCentre Premyer-Liha Expectations: win it
UEFA Champions League Expectations: reach Group Stage
Kubok Ukraini: don't care
Inter Superkubok Ukraini: don't care
TV rights: $1.031 million
Transfer Budget: $61 million
Wage Budget: $77 million (currently spending $62,239,662)

[AcidBurn]

Do Shakhtar get a huge sponsorship deal like on FM10 every season, if so how much?

[rancer890]

Do Shakhtar get a huge sponsorship deal like on FM10 every season, if so how much?

We just got a new $30 million sponsorship and I think in total we make around $33 million a year on sponsorship monies alone.

[rancer890]

South Korea - 남한

SEOUL - In a brief press conference with the South Korean media, Chinese-Canadian manager Ricky Nakano was excited to go for a new challenge with the South Korean national football. "I'm excited to take over the national team here in South Korea. I understand that supporters want results, and I want to do well for them. I understand that Korean football fans would like someone who knows the language to take over their team to lead to greatness but I think I'm up for the challenge to satisfy them through the results in football games."

저는 한국 축구 국가 대표팀을 관리할 수 기쁘기도하고 대회에서 진행하고 게임을 이기기 찾고 있었다.

(I'm excited to manage the South Korean national football team and looking to progress in competitions and win games.)

I probably really screwed up the above sentence in Korean somehow (since google translate isn't really good with grammar structure in sentences...even in Chinese which I can read and write), but just looking forward to this. The job I really wanted and I got it.

[rancer890]

South Korea - 남한

Key Players:

Jeong Kwang-Sun (정광선)

Lee Hyun-Ho (리현호)

Park Byung-Soo (박병수)

Seo Jae-Young (서재영)

Current situation: We're in the World Cup qualifying AFC region playoff against China. It would not be a conflict of interest because I have Hong Kong roots, not China, so I technically won't be betraying my country or anything like that.

If we win we face New Zealand, winners of the OFC region, who made the last World Cup, beating rivals Australia.

[Flamers]

Good luck, in my save south Korea seem to get to the world cup most years

[DSYoungEsq]

Awesome country to get the reins of!! Go Korea!

[rancer890]

Shakhtar Donetsk - Ukraine - EpiCentre Premyer-Liha

2029 Offseason Transfers

Transfers

Only a couple transfers for now

Julien Guillemin - young 18 year old with lots of potential (4-4.5 stars)

Mykyta Orel - young Ukrainian with 3.5 star potential

===

Champions League

Groups

We couldn't have gotten a harder 3rd seed to deal with than former parent club Leverkusen! If Milan was in our group it truly would have been a Group of Death!

South Korea update later, wanted to do it today but was out most of the day.

[rancer890]

My save is nearly done. I'm getting crash dumps left, right and centre. I can't get past the squad selection for an important World Cup playoff qualifier against China so I'm going to holiday a day and hope for the best with the squad the AI will select.

I hope this isn't the end of the 'Big One'.

EDIT: If I go into the national pool of the South Korean team it always crashes so I'm going to send SI my crash dump file...

[AK22]

Oh, that's a shame! You might not ever see how Guillemin turns out either, he looks a beast!

[rancer890]

Oh, that's a shame! You might not ever see how Guillemin turns out either, he looks a beast!

I'm actually more gutted about not developing Zakharov than anything else tbh.

If the crash persists, I'm going to resign from South Korea. I'm already posted in the crash subforum so I'll see what reply I get from the guys at SI.

[Raware]

Oh no rancer . I've not had a chance to get on the forums recently and I come back to this news. Hopefully you can get it sorted.

[rancer890]

The only remedy for now seems to be resigning from south korea. I tried all day at uni and it seems to be crashing still so I'm not sure what other possible thing to do right now to continue this save. Not happy at all about the crashes I'm experiencing so hope this gets fixed in the final patch.

Undecdied whether to resign or just wait for the final patch and see what happens. Either way its been a fantatic save and one of the most enjoyable I've had in fm. Typing this from bb and it's terrible! Hope si can have a mobile version of the forum...

[Flamers]

Don't use a Blackberry.. :P

Seems a bit of a strange crash, do you have custom leagues?

[rancer890]

Yes definitely. I create my own xmls like China and have that in the game. I use a blackberry because I'm more of a texter. Planning to get iPod Touch for the apps hehe.

It's really horrible viewing this on bb though, not sure about iphone, but it lags usually and I can't view pages with lots of pictures...

[Flamers]

My iPod displays forums well I have to say, I think the graphics chip is much better so can do images easier

Could it be an XML clash or something?

[rancer890]

My iPod displays forums well I have to say, I think the graphics chip is much better so can do images easier

Could it be an XML clash or something?

I wouldn't rule that out, but my game crashes if I'm afk for a long time, and I always kept it on FM10 and it didn't crash. It's just weird and no reply from the SI guys so I'll see tomorrow. I don't want to quit South Korea just yet but if I have to resign from them to keep playing I will.

[Flamers]

Thats the lesser of two evils

Club management is really what FM is about

[rancer890]

Good news. There's no crash when I select the national pool after I applied the patch. So I can still play this save.

[offen94]

Fantastic news!

[Flamers]

I saw they fixed a lot of South Korea things

[rancer890]

South Korea - 남한

August 15, 2029
Friendly: Afghanistan 2-2 South Korea

First game with South Korea, and I had no idea what to do. Had no idea we were headed to Kabul till we had to select the squad. Needless to say, it was a disaster that we drew Afghanistan, but I was pleased we left the country with half the South Korean army and all players were safe to face China in the AFC World Cup Qualifying Playoff against China. If we defeat China in the two leg aggregate, we face New Zealand.

September 8, 2029
AFC World Cup Qualifiers Playoff Leg 1: China 1-0 South Korea

I selected the strongest squad possible for the two games, but we lost this game. Li Cheng (who I had at Henan) scored the only goal

September 12, 2029
AFC World Cup Qualifiers Playoff Leg 2: South Korea 2-0 China

So, the return leg...Seo Jae-Young, a striker with Pohang, scored the 1st goal early in the game. I tried to play a possession based game because I had confidence we could win this game, and in the 89th minute we were finally rewarded with a goal by Lee Seul-Ki, a centreback playing with Amkar, in the 89th minute to seal the win and book us another playoff against the OFC winners, and another country I managed in, New Zealand.

Schedule for 2029:
Oct. 13 - vs New Zealand (AFC World Cup Qualifiers Leg 1)
Nov. 17 - at New Zealand (AFC World Cup Qualifiers Leg 2)
Nov. 21 - vs Ukraine (friendly)

[roganp]

Brilliant thread I've enjoyed reading this and it has kind of inspired me to try and do something similar.

[Blue_magic]

You can do it! Glad that you have no crashes anymore. Good news.

[rancer890]

Cheers roganp and Blue_magic. Hopefully no more problems. And we can somehow survive that awful champions league group.

[AK22]

Glad you're back up and running on this save. You HAVE to win some silverware for South Korea now!

[rancer890]

South Korea - 남한

2029 AFC World Cup Qualifying 2nd Playoff - vs New Zealand

October 13

South Korea 0-0 New Zealand

Not the result we wanted. We had a lot of shots, but few quality ones.

November 17

New Zealand 0-1 South Korea

Similar to the first game, but we made a breakthrough and scored a goal! It wasn't a pretty goal but I'll take it! We win 1-0 on aggregate.

South Korea going to the World Cup!

Oh, and the virtual me has learnt some basic Korean. Double bonus! (while the real life me is horribly struggling on the language...)

[DSYoungEsq]

Congratulations! You get to manage a team through the World Cup Finals! Should keep you busy for a bit.

[rancer890]

World Cup 2030 - Hosts Germany

Groups

Will be a challenge against these 3 teams. I'm already happy to be in this tournament in the 1st place.

[DSYoungEsq]

you are a shoo-in. Trust me.

[rancer890]

you are a shoo-in. Trust me.

Oh we'll see. You seem to have a knack for jinxing some of us so I rather not make predictions here.

[AK22]

Got a decent chance with that group. You should be able to beat Norway and DR Congo!

[gunners4eva]

Just went through the whole thread, this is great stuff rancer890. Mainly because you have built an interesting game while avoiding the 'usual' leagues (English Prem, Serie A, etc).

Would you consider managing an MLS team in the future? Toronto FC seem like they could use some help...

[rancer890]

Got a decent chance with that group. You should be able to beat Norway and DR Congo!

Depends...I'm not exactly confident with the group since I don't really know them still. But hopefully we'll do ok. Got some trophies to win for Shakhtar first though.

Just went through the whole thread, this is great stuff rancer890. Mainly because you have built an interesting game while avoiding the 'usual' leagues (English Prem, Serie A, etc).

Would you consider managing an MLS team in the future? Toronto FC seem like they could use some help...

Cheers mate. I try to avoid the big leagues at all cost in my careers. (unless it's a club I want to manage because I like them irl)

I usually start in Asia, because not a lot of careers are there and it's nice to be different sometimes. It's more fun to enter the unknown.

Probably no MLS at this stage of my career. Maybe Mexico though. Want to win something at Shakhtar first, and I've always had a habit of becoming attached to my players which makes it harder to move to another club.

[rancer890]

Oh, and another crash dump. This time on January 19, 2030. This game dumped me more in 4 months than girls throughout the years...

Gonna try and holiday through it and see what happens.

It MIGHT be a problem with the J-League but I'm not sure. I might start a new career soon...(without lots of xml files)

[RavingLibDem]

Oh, and another crash dump. This time on January 19, 2030. This game dumped me more in 4 months than girls throughout the years...

Gonna try and holiday through it and see what happens.

It MIGHT be a problem with the J-League but I'm not sure. I might start a new career soon...(without lots of xml files)

If i knew you better I would make a very cruel, and probably unjustified joke along the lines of that not suggesting very many crash dumps....

[Chutney132]

It might seem like a silly question, but do you play through Steam, and if so is it working correctly? The reason I ask is that I've only ever had Crash Dumps when my internet was playing up and therefore Steam was running in 'offline mode'.

It might be worth resigning from South Korea, as it seems to have all stemmed from when you took that job (which is a shame if it is the problem)...

[rancer890]

It might seem like a silly question, but do you play through Steam, and if so is it working correctly? The reason I ask is that I've only ever had Crash Dumps when my internet was playing up and therefore Steam was running in 'offline mode'.

It might be worth resigning from South Korea, as it seems to have all stemmed from when you took that job (which is a shame if it is the problem)...

It's crashing no matter what, whether it's offline or online.

If it's crashing on January 19, it's the day before the Japanese reset date. I *think* it might be all those xml files, specifically the Japanese one that's creating problems...

I might start a new save but the earthquake in Japan has affected me a little and I'm waiting for a 11.3 J-League and German league xmls so I'll see if I can start up a new save soon...lesson learned: don't load so many xml files...

[DSYoungEsq]

Situation? And by the way, I hope you don't have family/friends seriously affected by the quake/tsunami.

[rancer890]

Situation? And by the way, I hope you don't have family/friends seriously affected by the quake/tsunami.

This is on the backburner for now. I'm too busy and I want to try the player career game first.

As for the quake, my family and relatives are okay (I don't think any of them went to the northern part of Japan the past week). We're all still alive. It didn't hit HK. Relatives in Vancouver (BC of course, not Washington State) are ok too.

As for friends, some of my friend's parents might lose their jobs here because some of the factories in Sendai got destroyed and they can't really do anything without any imported parts...and I also can't find one of my other friends after the earthquake. I duno if she went to Japan (would be strange to travel when the year isn't over yet but I never know with her ) or not but I just can't find her in uni or contact her thru text/mobile after the earthquake. It's either a coincidence or I'm just a little paranoid...

Either way, this disaster is having a global impact around the world imo if people are losing jobs because of something that happened on the other side of the world...