One Man, One Dream and Five Champions Leagues

[Azeryk`]

About Myself:
My name is Craig although on here I go by the name of Azeryk - I've been using the forums on and off for the past 8-9 years so ignore my post count as I have a tendency of losing password. In the past couple of years I've grown to enjoy career games more and this time I intend to get a decent way into the game (20 seasons or more). As some of you may have read I am already in season 7 but have decided today to make my own thread in order to gain more feedback off other forum members - due to this some screen shots from the early seasons have been taken several years afterwards.

Objective:
My aim is the same as in FM11 - to start off as a nobody in the lowest English league and go on to win the Champions League in 5 different continents - my game will be without any edits and with a starting reputation of "Sunday League".

I will start off my loading all leagues in England, Germany, Italy and Spain and will use the add/remove feature as soon as required to allow me to move on to the next stage of the challenge



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[Azeryk`]

Season 1
I was determined to start the career with a English side so I turned down several foreign jobs before Boston United approached me in November, ranked 16th in the league despite being tipped to finish in the top three. The club is of a decent stature for the Blue Square North and the stadium holds just over 6000 so I have plenty to work with. The squad is fairly decent; but the club seriously lacks a goalscorer so that was going to be the first place I strengthen.

In comes Jamil Adams, a free signing highly recommended my my scouts and he soon made am impact on the league hitting 30 goals in 30 games and becoming the top scorer for the league. Due to him massive impact we scrapped top spot and promotion at the first chance - it might have only been my one point but is quickly showed how every match is important. Infact three points separated the top7!

We were out of both cups by the time I arrived so I had nothing to distract me from the league although his didn't help us financially.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions

[Azeryk`]

Season 2
With us getting promoted last season we were tipped to be struggling this season but with Jamil still at the club I had every hope of doing better and aiming for a top half finish - my aim signings wise was to find another goalscorer to at least assist Jamil Adams as we relied on him too heavily last season and if he hits bad form or gets injured then I'm screwed.

Well I failed at finding a friend for Jamil up front although he stayed injury and bad form free so at least them helped. We done as per expectations for the whole season but hit some good form towards the latter end which took us up to second and into the play-off places. We had no chance of top spot (Stockport) but I was thrilled with him we were doing so didn't mind. We met Newport in the semi-finals of the play-offs winning 4-3 on agg. and faced Luton in the finals and lost 0-1 which was massively disappointing.

Both cups went so bad I can't remember how they went.

Jaim Adams hit 41 goals in 46 games = a club legend in the making.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals

[SnakeXe]

Ahh I did wonder if you were the artist formerly known as Azeryk!

Good start, shame about missing out on a successive promotion.

[Azeryk`]

Season 3
After coming so close this time I wanted to finish in top spot - especially as I HATE play-offs as I tend to lose in the finals. I had upgraded a lot of players during the pre-season and we did look much stronger compared to last season. We started the season strongly and looked like we would run away with the league but hit a bit of bad form just as Wrexham hit an unbeaten spell and it let them run away with the league and leave me in second (again). SO play-offs again so I wasn't feeling confident, first off was Grimsby who we beat 3-0 on agg although all three goals came in extra time in the second leg (damn tense game). The final was against Barnet and I lost my one goal (again); 3-4. So yet another season in the Blue Square Premier for me

Again the cups went bad enough that I forgot what happened, I just can't explain why the cups are going so bad.

Managed to sign Jamil Adams on a long term deal so regardless of whether I stay or go he will remain at the club for another two seasons - although if I leave I will regret that as it stops me taking him with me as easily. He managed 48 goals in 50 games for us this season.

I decided at the end of this season that season 4 would be my final one at Boston United as I seem to have hit a stumbling spot.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us Above is Jamil mid-way through season 3.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals

[Azeryk`]

Ahh I did wonder if you were the artist formerly known as Azeryk!

Good start, shame about missing out on a successive promotion.

Yeah I've been around a while, got a few thousand posts if I added all accounts together

and it was a shame, I've never been so close but failed before so many times.

[Azeryk`]

Season 4
After coming so close twice in a row this was going to be my final season at Boston United so I was going to go all out for top spot. I tweaked the squad but overall we had the talent to get promoted last season so there wasn't much left to do but get on with it. Well to say we hit expectations would be spot on! We romped through the league and after we few games we were top and didn't come close to losing it - it even game me enough of a cushion to concentrate on the FA Trophy for a change and that ended my losing streak in cup competitions. The FA trophy went so well I won every match by 2 or more goals, no scrapping through for me.

So it made a perfect ending to my final season, two trophies - one for the league and one for the FA Trophy



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Jamil Adams screen shot taken 6 months after I left Boston: 163 games and 154 goals whilst I managed him, I've never had a lower league player have as much as an impact


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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners

[DazRTaylor]

Bloody hell! Boston win promotion to the Football League without cheating! Steve Evans wont be pleased.

On a serious note, congratulations on 2 promotions. Good career so far and look forward to reading more.

[Azeryk`]

Season 5
So I resigned from Boston United after getting them into the football league and was all set to be joining a team in league 1 or 2. The first offer to come along was Shrewsbury - not bad as they were expected to do pretty well in league two in the new season but I thought I would give it a week before making a decision. Am I pleased I done that! A few days later and Burnley - who had just been relegated from the Premier League offered me a job - making this the biggest jump up the leagues I've ever had. My personal wage went from £800 to nearly £11,000 a week.

So after accepting I went on the task of stopping all of my best players from leaving, I figured if I could keep the whole team intact I could go straight back up - even the press predicted me second. This was also the first time I could spend money on transfers and was giving me a whooping £4M to spend - that is a massive £4M more than at Boston I brought in Jack Hobbs from Huddersfield for £1.5M to give me strength in the middle of defence and mid-season signed Ross Turnbull on a free in January. Both turned out to be top signings with Turnbull conceding far less goals that my previous keeper and Hobbs scored 14 goals from DC position!

Squad at the end of the season:


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The season went well, we were always in the top 3 and between us, Huddersfield and West Ham (both also previously relegated from the Prem) we were never in any jeopardy of going lower. Towards the end of the season West Ham hit bad form and we took advantage and went well clear of the runners up - but at least I didn't need to go trough any play-offs! Charlie Austin and Matt Phillps both went to hit 20 goals in the season giving me plenty of goal scorers up front (both go on to my England débuts in the future)

The cups went bad but I put out weakened sides for both cups as quick promotion to the Premiership was my only aim this season




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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions

[Azeryk`]

Season 6
So there I was looking forward to life in England's top league and looking to sign a few players and watch Euro 2016 when Wenger retires from Arsenal - so I think - HEY, why not? - so I apply much to Burnley's disapproval. And for some reason why accept!?! I went from Boston to Arsenal (BSP to Prem) in 13 months!?!

So Iuickly identified they still have a goalkeeping problem (hadn't bought a new keeper in the previous 5 seasons) so brought in ter Stegen for £25M and with V.Persie reaching his 30s needed a new striker so got Abel Hernandez for £24.5M. The rest of the squad seemed good enough and there are a few decent kids coming through the ranks so was happy enough to only buy two players. I offloaded a few players to pull back £10M in transfers.

The season went well although we never looked like winning the league, we were always behind Man Utd but several points and despite scoring the most goals (111) and having the best goal difference (+72) we finished in 3rd - so at least an improvement from 5th the season before I took charge. We won the League cup so at least some silver in the first season and lost in the FA Cup final 2-3 to man Utd and lost to Athletic Madrid in the Euro Cup Q-finals. The season basically went downhill when the African Nations started and I lost 6 first team players to the competition.

Next season hopefully we'll be able to compete for top spot.

On a plus note Abel Hernandez did go and score 52 goals in 49 games so at least he was worth every penny.



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League Cup Run:


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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners

Not long after the season started England sacked McLaren (again) so I applied for the England job - and got that O_O I got offered Euro 2016 champions Spain as well but decided to go for my home nation even if Spain were the better side.

England went well - won every match in the World cup qualification and won all friendlies so couldn't ask for more. The squad is good although England are lacking a proper striker as Rooney is getting old and Wickman is not good enough but will have to do.

[Azeryk`]

Season 7
After how last season went I though we would have a good chance of winning the league title if we were strengthen so I spent £60M brining in 3 regens, a DR, DC and AMR/ST. Last season we scored plenty of goals and coceded too many so I felt this should have done the trick.

It didn't - by March I was 5th in the league and 16 points away from top spot, KO'd from the Champions league to Athletic Madrid and KO'd from the League Cup to Man Utd early on. The only bright spot was I was in the FA Cup.

I was tearing my hair out at this stage - I scrapped all of my tactics and went back to the basics 4-4-2 and 4-5-1.

This seemed to do the trick, we stopped throwing away silly away matches and turned defeats into draws and draws into wins and managed to wiggle our way up top 3rd (just) and made our way to the FA Cup final where we beat Spurs (who I support) 2-0. So we might have missed out on the big one but at least I won something else.

We still seem off the pace but I think a couple of midfielders could be all it takes - and this time I mean it.



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FA Cup run:


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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners

England: We qualified for the World Cup with ease with one defeat (to Croatia) and more recently I have lost a couple of friendlies which has caused problems (inc. 4-0 to N.Ireland!) so am going to change tactics here as well. Something which has failed to help me has been my assistant manager picking the world cup squad for me - not sure how I missed that news post.

Well the World Cup sucked, qualified from the group with ease and faced Morocco in the first Knockouts where despite having 25 shots only managed a 1-1 draw where we then lost on penalties

Did have the chance to take over most nations as nearly every manager was either sacked or resigned but have decided to see how Euro'18 goes so will probably leave after that tournament but we'll just have to see.

[deltablue]

Another manager who's had Jamil Adam? Definitely a forward of choice for smaller UK clubs, thats Boston, Airdrie (with myself), Armagh, Stranraer and Tranmere that I've seen people have him at, mostly with success.

[Azeryk`]

Another manager who's had Jamil Adam? Definitely a forward of choice for smaller UK clubs, thats Boston, Airdrie (with myself), Armagh, Stranraer and Tranmere that I've seen people have him at, mostly with success.

He does seem to be a lower league legend - I didn't know of anyone else who'd had him (doesn't look like I've looked hard) - he currently plays in league 1 with Derby in my game and appears to be doing well.

[SnakeXe]

Absolutely ludicrously fast career progression! While you were signing Abel Hernandez I was picking my squad up from relegation from League One!

[Azeryk`]

Absolutely ludicrously fast career progression! While you were signing Abel Hernandez I was picking my squad up from relegation from League One!

I'm surprised as well - I never expected this, especially getting to go to Burnley so soon after reaching the football league but it made up for the two play off final defeats :P

[Azeryk`]

Champions League Q-Finals, I lose 2-4 away to Real Madrid and know I MUST attack when they come to the Emirates........



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[Azeryk`]

Right, bed for me before work tomorrow - there is ONE point separate me, Man Utd and Man City and Spurs are only 2 points behind us with only 4 games to go - so basically one bad result could mean I win or lose the title :/ and to make things worse congestion wise I'm facing Man Utd in the Champions League semi-finals and Stoke in the FA Cup final. A good season which can go bad quick :?

[deltablue]

But so much glory potential, I'd focus on that.

[Azeryk`]

But so much glory potential, I'd focus on that.

Am trying, never been so nervous about the end of a season before.

The Champions League semi-final result against Man Utd has settled some of that thought, but I face a rampant Barcelona side who has FIVE times World player of a year Messi still :P



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[Azeryk`]

Season 8
Well I went into this season with high expectations, the new tactics made towards the end of the previous season, coupled with a couple signings to midfield should be enough to see us lift the English Premier League - and for most of the season we bounced around the top three and with just three games to go we were just ONE point ahead of the two Manchester's. We then found a big shiny self-destruct button and picked up only 4 points out of 9, although with a slice of luck we did manage second so a personal best since taking over at Arsenal - and to really rub salt in the wound, Man City won the title over us on GOAL DIFFERENCE

and to rub things in further I was manager of the year runner up for the THIRD time - always a bridesmaid never a bride comes to mind.

The end of the season fixture congestion even hit our FA Cup final against Stoke, we should have won easily enough but needed to come from 2 goals down and then needed extra time before finishing 4-3 winners - allowing us to retain the cup.



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The Champions League final became problematic, I had 4 injuries going into the match affecting my midfield and then had Ramsey (MC) called up to play an International game for Wales....... so with a weakened side we went to face Barcelona......... and had an injury to Gervinho (MR) in the first half. We battled hard and switched to 4-5-1 (from 4-4-2) and seemed to start controlling the game, and well you can see the result below.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners

So technically I've completed the part of the challenge in Europe, but it does feel like there is unfinished business as I'm yet to win the league. It owuld also be nice to try a top side in Germany, Italy or Spain but no one seems to be hiring..........any suggestions, opinions??????

[Adelaidean]

Amazing career, from Boston Utd to Arsenal in a year! GL for the Champions' League Final!

EDIT: Hadn't refreshed the page to see your latest post, congratulations! Bad luck on the title.

[AK22]

Really glad you've decided to put this in a thread. Amazing success so far, non-league to Champions League winner in eight seasons

IMO, Germany's always fun. 18 teams in the league, and only one cup competition, so you can fly through the seasons. See if you can overturn Bayern

[B.W.G]

Wow,amazing progress you've made and congrats on the double

If you go to Spain then try a club outside the big two or as AK22 said,Germany to try and overturn Bayern.

[Azeryk`]

Thanks for the input guys,

No club in the top division in Italy, Germany or Spain needed a manager over the summer; and I didn't fancy going unemployed when I get the Euro Super Cup and World Club Cup to compete in as well in the new season so I decided one last season at Arsenal and then I'm moving on. I want to win a top league in Europe and if I can't do that in four attempts with Arsenal then I'm on to a new club.

To make matters worse after deciding that I've been unable to sign anyone who's going to have a major impact on the squad (aside from one DC) and my MR position is still too weak for my likings....... where as rivals man Utd have spent £75M on new players.

But I have a good team and who knows what the next 12 months will bring.

[roganp]

Insane how quickly your career has progressed.

Keep up the good work!

[Azeryk`]

Insane how quickly your career has progressed.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks, watch it go downhill now though

[Azeryk`]

It might only be the Community Shield but it made me very happy



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[Azeryk`]

I have so many injuries to my strike force that I've been forced to use two youths, one aged only 17

and now Napoli want a new manager..... tempting

[Azeryk`]

Am only half way through season 9 but feel I should update something tonight, so:

The season has picked up, still got more injuries than I want, and despite having no first team strikers I still managed to get the Steam achievement for scoring in 30 competitive matches in a row and then got a 0-0 draw in match #31

and this happened:



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I lost that 500th match 0-2 away to Newcastle in the League

[Azeryk`]

Season 9
Well lets start with the league, after being so close for three years in a row I had decided that if I couldn't win the league this time then it would be my last try at Arsenal. And we started the season bad, we had a lot of injuries, especially in the goal scoring department and quite quickly we found ourselves potentially TEN points adrift. But we worked hard, got a good unbeaten run going and somehow by Christmas I'd caught up the title contenders (Man Utd and Tottenham), despite this we always looked like we would finish runners up again. With 3 games to go Man Utd were 2 points ahead and Spurs had given up, then Man Utd hit the self destruct button and with 1 game to go we were top - on goal difference. We then smashed Ipswich 5-0 to ensure we got the title - mission accomplished!



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I did replace keeper Ter Stegen (who cost £25M 4 years ago) with someone better who just cost me £900k........

League Cup, Euro Super Cup and FA Cup all had the same fates - KO'd by Man City in my first round - so at least that helped us with fixture congestion

World Club Championship went very well, we were expected to win it and at least didn't disappoint. It was a competition I was looking forward to competing in this season.

After winning last years Champions League I was focusing more on the league, whilst I still wanted to do well I wouldn't have been concerned if we were knocked out. We qualified from the group easily and then beat Spartak Moscow, Real Madrid and Stuttgart on the way to the final - to was slightly shocked and pleased. We faced Napoli in the final, dominate them 4-0 and retained the Champions League making this a memorable season.

Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners
2016/20    Arsenal             English Premier League       1st         League, Champions League, World Club Cup & Community Shield Winners

[Azeryk`]

As the forums are not letting me add more images to the above post:

The Squad:


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Champions League Progress:



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[SnakeXe]

Newcastle 3rd!

What's their squad like now, still got Cabaye/Tiote/Santon/Krul?

Fantastic season, also...

[Azeryk`]

Newcastle have turned into top 4 contenders now and have Alan Shearer as manager; their squad:



Am due to leave Arsenal soon, I've won a league title and two Champions Leagues with them. So far no one in Europe that I want to go to needs a manager so I might go unemployed when the Euro's end.

[B.W.G]

Another brilliant season

Also,quite a bit of a fall for Liverpool....16th

[Azeryk`]

England Update: Euro 2020

We scrapped through the group stage, we shouldn't have struggled so much but we needed Ukraine to score against Turkey in the 86th minute to get us through :-/ and then we faced the Czech Rep. in the first knockouts, managed 1-1 after extra time despite having ALL of the possession and then lost on penalties. So basically the same story as the World Cup in 2018. Due to the poor performance I resigned on the spot.

It's just a shame I couldn't resign success to England

Rafa Benitez took the role up after me, and was sacked after the final when all sackings/resignations usually take place - am guessing that was a bug

[abulezz]

A fantastic season thus far. Where is your next stop if you leave Arsenal?

[deltablue]

Should definitely move on to the next continent.

[AK22]

Great final season at Arsenal, although seeing Liverpool down in 16th is a bit of a shocker for me!

[SnakeXe]

Interesting to see Jak Alnwick has become Newcastle's number 1, he's had decent potential the last few versions.

[Adelaidean]

Great work at Arsenal, I agree that it's time to move to a new continent.

[Azeryk`]

Great final season at Arsenal, although seeing Liverpool down in 16th is a bit of a shocker for me!

and for most of the time they were in the relegation zone their manager was Mourinho They looked like going down for a good part of the season.

[Archwaypool]

What reputation did you start on? was it Ex International?

[roganp]

Congrats on your success at Arsenal

I look forward to seeing where you will go next

[Azeryk`]

What reputation did you start on? was it Ex International?

I started off at Sunday League and hit World Class at the end of season 8.

[Azeryk`]

Congrats on your success at Arsenal

I look forward to seeing where you will go next

So do I :P I've removed Spain, Italy and Germany and have added Brazil, Argentina and Peru - although the changes will take 6-12 months to take effect (I didn't plan this well). But I want to manage in Brazil as it is a country I've never managed in before.

[Azeryk`]

Well to answer the question of where I went after Arsenal......

Brazil got added to my game in January (Argentina and Peru will be added in June) and after being added it took another 3 months to get a job, so it's taken 9 months to get a job but I am very happy to be at Sao Paulo FC!!

It has now been 12 years since they won the Brazilian first division; and the past 8 years has seen dominance from Corinthians and Santos - who still have Neymar up front. So it looks like a good place to go next and somewhere I can complete the next phase of my target.

[deltablue]

Excellent opportunity to earn more success.

[B.W.G]

Good luck at Sao Paulo FC

[AK22]

Good choice of club, should be able to win some trophies with them. That's if you can endure the 80 games per season

[Azeryk`]

Thanks guys, am enjoying the feedback/comments

and I knew Brazil had a lot of games but not quite this many! It makes you wonder why UK clubs complain about too many games when you witness this.

[deltablue]

Lets see how many it really is.

[Azeryk`]

This season it will be 63 although if I had done better at the start it would have been more. Still it's a lot to get through.

[deltablue]

Definitely a lot.

[roganp]

I had a short stint at Flamengo on FM 11, and although the seasons are long I found them to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Good luck with Sao Paulo

[Azeryk`]

I had a short stint at Flamengo on FM 11, and although the seasons are long I found them to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Good luck with Sao Paulo

Currently finding it quite frustrating. Am doing well enough to keep my and the board happy but we just don't seem to dominate anyone, I recently drew to the bottom two clubs and have conceded more goals than one of the clubs in the relegation zone :P

[abulezz]

The thing about Brazil is you always have so many exceptional youths seemingly every year. Capitalize on that!

[Azeryk`]

Season 10

It was time to manage on a new continent and for the first time in CM/FM I went to Brazil and it was fallen giants Sao Paulo who I would be managing. I took over with the club 4th in the league stage of the state championship and we quickly raced up to top which gave me hope that I could dominate Brazil early on. I signed a new MC and MR to give more strength to a weak midfield but was generally pleased with the team. Then it all went downhill and our weaknesses were quickly exposed. In the knock-out stage we faced Paulista and won 3-0 and then lost to Palmeiras 0-1. We seemed to have a knack for conceding too many on target shots - we could dominate teams yet not score and lose; and with us unable to find better defenders on the transfer market it wasn't going to be an easy year.



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The Copa Libertadores had also started before I arrived and I didn't find us in a good position and again we were easily the strongest side in all matches, yet failed to take advantage of our chances and allowed the opposition to score easy goals. This stopped us from even getting through the group stages - not the start I was hoping for in Brazil.



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I had some time to fix one area before the main season started so I opted to buy a new striker, to say I broke the club record would be an understatement. In came Moises for a massive £11.5M, who had a record of 13 goals in 15 games for his previous club. I was expecting things - as you can tell he was largely a big disappointment.



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The league went well, and we were always in the top 3 but we never played like we should be there. We lost or drew to clubs fighting relegation and very rarely dominated any matches. One with was obvious though, regardless of the result we always managed to score goals and easily scored more than anyone else in the league, so when we hit a clean sheet spell towards the end of the season it lifted us clear of the chasing pack and gave Sao Paulo their first league win since 2008 - and despite that I wasn't even in the top 3 for Manager of the Year.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners
2019/20    Arsenal             English Premier League       1st         League, Champions League, World Club Cup & Community Shield Winners
2021       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League Champions

So what next? Well next season we DEFIANTLY need a new DL and DR to attempt to have a stronger back four and that should give us the strength to complete in the Champions League a bit better.

Also - I'm sure there is a conspiracy about me, I mean at Arsenal I won plenty and was manager of the year RUNNER UP four times and now I don't win it either.

[B.W.G]

Congrats on the title win,it gives you a good platform to build upon in the new season!

[deltablue]

Excellent first season. The Libertadores awaits.

[roganp]

Well done on winning the title

[Azeryk`]

Ok, I take ages to find a decent Dl and two come along at once and I can't decide who is better, so opinions please:

Will cost £5M up front and £6M over 4 years http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ewprofile.png/
Will cost £2.5M up front and £3.5M over 4 years http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...verviewpr.png/

[DazRTaylor]

I like the first one more but maybe not £5m more!

[deltablue]

Probably worth splashing out on Lapa.

[no75jordan]

great thread m8, makes me wonna manage different teams as i've only ever stuck with the team i started with. also how you've done so many seasons already with a job i'm in my 4th season and i play alot only work 2 days a week too, if i play much more im in danger of getting kicked out you must be single lmao

[Carl0s]

Awesome stuff, Im currently at Liverpool and in my 2nd season I won the treble (league, FA cup & champs league). I'm now going to try what your doing and going to move to Brazil and try to win the champions league there and then move on again.

[Azeryk`]

great thread m8, makes me wonna manage different teams as i've only ever stuck with the team i started with. also how you've done so many seasons already with a job i'm in my 4th season and i play alot only work 2 days a week too, if i play much more im in danger of getting kicked out you must be single lmao

I booked some time off work towards the end of October for Halloween so I could watch some good horror films - sadly not many good films were on TV but I had FM12 instead. My fiancée didn't have any holiday time spare so I could do whatever I wanted for a week. Plus whilst I am o the PC she gets the TV remote so she doesn't complain much as long as I do some housework. My play rate will drop as I will be working 5-days a week until Christmas now

but a career game is good fun, you can literally do anything you want and go anywhere so I think you'd have plenty of fun.

[Azeryk`]

Awesome stuff, Im currently at Liverpool and in my 2nd season I won the treble (league, FA cup & champs league). I'm now going to try what your doing and going to move to Brazil and try to win the champions league there and then move on again.

Congratz on the treble - it's good to have a goal and try new places - it's a lot of work in Brazil thought and you can easily end up with 60+ games a season. Am thinking of Mexico for N.America as I've done the MLS and most people seem to go there so I want to do something different.

[Azeryk`]

Probably worth splashing out on Lapa.

I signed Lapa - he's doing well so am pleased with the signing although with the hectic fixtures in Brazil he needs resting every so often which is a shame but my defence is holding up so far

[Azeryk`]

Season 11 - Mid-way Update
I'm not going to start doing regular mid-season updates but once you've read this you'll understand why I've done it this time.

I made a few signings going into the new season, Lapa for DL and Fernando for MC, it might not have been much but we had pretty obvious weak areas last season and this should do the job of us retaining the First division title and win both cups.

The Sao Paulo state championship was at the start of the season and I was really expecting to win this one, we topped the league with ease and entered the knock-out rounds. We smashed Guarani 7-0; and then went passed Corinthians 3-0 to make it to the final to face Portuguesa. At this stage we'd been hit with an injury crisis - Moises was on fire and then got injured along with my 3 best midfielder leaving us with a weakened side in the final. We pushed it all the way but in the end couldn't a good attack/defend balance and lost 2-4. Not the start that I wanted.



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The Copa Libertadores was next, the group stage went well enough, we picked up points from Nacional and Penarol of Uruguay easily enough although a 0-3 defeat to Santos did not install me with the confidence that we were strong enough to win this. In the 2nd round we faced CF Universidad de Chile (from Chile) and won 6-2, and then faced a much tougher challenge in Independiente (from Argentina) in the Q-finals. We managed to win 7-0 over the two legs and that gave us much more confidence going into the semi's. We faced probably the easiest side here in Vasco de Gama (from Brazil) who I had never lost to - and won 7-2 overall.

Then came the big final - two matches against Boca (of Argentina), the Brazilian league champions against the Argentinian league champions. We spanked them in the first leg 4-0 which effectively gave us the title. We 3-1 win in the second leg gave us a good victory before lifting the cup.



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So there we go, two Champions Leagues under my belt already, something I didn't expect to happen this quick. I was expecting to still be in England at this stage. I have loaded the leagues from Mexico (both of them) and the USA - although it will take 11-months before both will be up and running so I plan to stay at Sao Paulo until next spring. I really want to lift the State championship before I leave and this will also give me the chance tor retain my title (hopefully).

I think the add/remove league feature still needs some ironing though. According to my game Corinthians and Santos had dominated the league for a decade, yet last season they managed 4th and 6th after a late rise. I think the history generated doesn't match the strength of the squads as I shouldn't have won this much this soon based on Soa Paulo's history.

On another note, after a 4 year absence I have returned to International football and take over at Brazil. Due to this I will leave the Brazilian top league running once I leave for Mexico.

[deltablue]

Nice and quick second title.

[AK22]

Still racking up the trophies then

Well done on the league and Copa Libertadores success. Great result in the final against Boca.

Have you got Moises scoring yet? How are you playing him? I would say target man (attack), as he doesn't have the pace to play any of the other roles.

[SnakeXe]

Really well done on picking up a second Champions League so quickly! Think you'll definitely beat me to the quintet at this rate

[Azeryk`]

Still racking up the trophies then

Well done on the league and Copa Libertadores success. Great result in the final against Boca.

Have you got Moises scoring yet? How are you playing him? I would say target man (attack), as he doesn't have the pace to play any of the other roles.

Thanks, and I just kept using him. After spending nearly £12M on a player I really couldn't leave him on the bench, especially as the club record was only £7M before that. His preferred style is target man (attack) and I play him alongside a poacher (also attack). I think he just needed a confidence boost and the state championship contains some easy matches, and once he settled in and started scoring against the easier sides he quickly started scoring against the harder ones.

[Azeryk`]

Really well done on picking up a second Champions League so quickly! Think you'll definitely beat me to the quintet at this rate

Thanks - It's something I've never managed to achieve in CM/FM despite trying a couple of times before. Usually I get bored of the save/game before I can finish it and I rarely go back to a old save if I do return. Hence trying to do this quick.

[Azeryk`]

Season 11 - End of season

Well here goes the other half of the season. With us reaching the state finals, winning the Copa Libertadores and being the defending champions I was going into the domestic league with plenty of confidence. Approaching the half way stage it was well justified, we had been scoring goals for fun and our defence was keeping out more than last year - enough so that I had a 5 point gap at the to of the table and all was going right. Then we decided to forget how to win, 6 defeats in 9 games took us from top to 5th and at one stage we were 8 points away from the leaders. Nothing had changed player or tactic wise and this was not how I was expecting to spend my final season. We got back onto track eventually and I was starting to expect to be reporting to anyone reading this that I had failed in defending my title. But with 4 games to go I found myself 1 point clear of Corinthians (I had played 1 extra game). It became squeaky bum time, we done so well towards the end of the season that we ended unbeaten in 11 games. Enough to successfully retain the title, something I didn't expect.



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@AK22 - Moises ended up 2nd best striker in the league at the end of season awards.

Whilst I may still be leaving in 6 months I want to leave Sao Paulo with a strong squad where they can continue winning without me so I'll be looking to sign a DR in the pre-season. Plus my job isn't finished yet, I still want to win the state championship and if time allows I will look to defend the Copa Libertadores before moving to Mexico - and the Club World Championship is next month, I doubt I'll win it but I'll give it a go.



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Brazil National team: It's gone well, 4 friendly matches, 3 wins with domination achieved. Lost 2-3 to Spain away from home so not too bothered as we did play well.

Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners
2019/20    Arsenal             English Premier League       1st         League, Champions League, World Club Cup & Community Shield Winners
2021       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League Champions
2022       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League & Copa Libertadores Champions

[Azeryk`]

Season 12 - State Championship

With me due to leave Sao Paulo in 6 months I wanted to leave the club in a state where they would dominate without me so it was still going to be a busy pre-season. I didn't end up getting that new DR I wanted (although maybe I could have looked harder); but did sign a new ST and GK for the first team (the GK is current Brazil International) and two new MC's for when injuries occur. As well as this I persuaded the board to invest more money into youth coaching and to upgrade the training facilities. I also finished upgrading the back room staff meaning very few have survived my time at the club but we have some of the best coaches in the league now.

The Club World Championship happened in December and after beating Atlas of Mexico 5-0 we faced Man Utd in the final - not a good sign as a European side had won the cup for the past 7 years!! We didn't change that either as we lost 1-2 but put up a good fight and when we pulled it back to 1-1 I was bouncing in the seat until they scored again

The state championships were up next, I was yet again favourites to win this and over the past two attempts had done poorly in the knock outs. the league stage was expectantly easy with us smashing some of the lower league sides. 19 games, 18 wins (1 defeat to Santos), in those matches we scored a massive 79 goals and conceded only 6. We faced Guarani in the Q-finals and won easily enough 5-0, then came the real tests. We faced Santos in the S-Finals and got passed them 3-1 but by this stage we had a lot of injuries again (same as last season) so my newly extended squad was being stretched but was just about managing. Corinthians were our final opponents and we lost the first leg (away) 1-2 and after 90 mins had only managed 2-2 until new signing Giovanni popped up in the 90+3rd minutes. Then the game went to penalties - something I don't remember winning at in FM12.....



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So I will be leaving Brazil happy even if the state championship is too small to count as a cup win on my profile or hall of fame

[Azeryk`]

Some of my key players:

Guilherme - Brazilian international keeper I signed for £2.5M - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...erviewpro.png/
Carlao - Good defender who scores an insane amount of goals - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ewprofile.png/
Lucas Moura - Captain and all round good performer - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...viewprofi.png/
Giovanni - New striker to replace Ademilson (who wants to leave), cost £2.9M - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ewprofile.png/
Moises - Club record signing and vastly improving - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...wprofile2.png/

Manager Screenshots:

Manager Profile - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...erviewpro.png/
Manager history overview - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...storyover.png/
Manager Bibliography - http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...storybiog.png/

Feel free to ask if you want to see anything else.

[SnakeXe]

Hooray! A nice way to leave Brazil, regardless of the (lack of) prestige

[Azeryk`]

Thanks - Well depending on how soon I can get a job in Mexico I might have enough time to defend my Copa Libertadores to the end, am in the S-Finals so far. Mexico gets added in 2-weeks.

[AK22]

Two more trophies

Good luck with the job hunt. Is Mexico the preferred venue, or would you take a job somewhere else?

[Azeryk`]

Two more trophies

Good luck with the job hunt. Is Mexico the preferred venue, or would you take a job somewhere else?

Well I didn't want to add any user made leagues to the game so that only leaves the USA and Mexico to pick from, and as I done the USA in last years attempt I've decided to go for the other option. The problem at the moment is the league has only just started so I am waiting for someone to do bad in order to get a job so IO am still going along with Sao Paulo and Brazil.

On the plus side I retained the Copa Libertadores with ease and won the Copa America with Brazil, in a 3-2 final victory over Argentina. I do want to leave Sau Paula soon-ish though as I don't want to keep winning trophies as it has gotten a bit easy in South America.

[Azeryk`]

Last time I say anything has gotten a bit too easy:



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D'OH!!!!

[Sunndaihann]

@carl0s@ Can i please see a screenshot of Vitinho from 2014/15 ?

[Paolo Willenté]

Jeeze you score a lot of goals! Just looked at your manager history.

[deltablue]

At least you'd already reached glory so that result doesn't matter

[Azeryk`]

@carl0s@ Can i please see a screenshot of Vitinho from 2014/15 ?

This is the only Vitinho in the game, who went unemployed until 2021, and has done very little since.



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[Azeryk`]

Jeeze you score a lot of goals! Just looked at your manager history.

I like to play attacking football and it has helped that in Brazil's state championship you face some lower league sides which gives a good chance to knock in more than a few.

[Azeryk`]

Season 12

My final update from Sao Paulo

All I have left to update you all on in the Copa Libertadores - which went rather well. We never really looked like being knocked out and won most knock-out matches but several goals over the two legs.



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I ended up leaving Sao Paulo mid-season and with no where to go. I had wanted to stay at the club until I had found a club in mexico to take me but that was causing a couple problems Firstly with the number of games in Brazil it was takes me ages to advance time-wise. And as I was eager to leave I was spending more time checking the job board than anything else and the club needed someone more dedicated. So with that I resigned with the club in 6th- with 4 staff members following me

Brazil - We had the Copa America in the summer and I took four of my Sao Paulo members with me (including Moises) - which didn't help my Sao Paulo matches. We happily went passed the group stage and the match we drew was because I rested everyone as I had already qualified. We might have only beat Uruguay 1-0 but we dominated them, then easily beat Colombia 4-0 and then face Argentina in the final. This was going to be very tough - I had a lot of Argentinian players whilst at Arsenal and some are the best in the world now. We fought hard and scrapped through 3-2 - my first international trophy.



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners
2019/20    Arsenal             English Premier League       1st         League, Champions League, World Club Cup & Community Shield Winners
2021       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League Champions
2022       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League & Copa Libertadores Champions
2023       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division                 Copa Libertadores & State Champions

Seasons    Country             Achievements
2016-2020  England             World Cup 2018 - First Knockouts
                               Euro 2020 - First knockouts
2022       Brazil              Copa America 2023 - Winners

So where do I end up? Well stay tuned

[deltablue]

We'll be waiting, same FM time, same FM channel.

[ArsenalMetro]

The Mexican league can be wild. Good luck there! Once you're in the CCL though, it should be pretty easy.

[roganp]

Great win over Boca in the Libertadores final

[Azeryk`]

Well there I am at Mexico and the first top league club which offered me a job was:

CF Puebla de la Franja

Although predicted to finish 13 this season; they are over achieving in 6th so I have no reason why they sacked the previous manager - but a lot of the teams in this league look quite similar so I don't think it will take much to get this team into the North American Champions League. I get a few league games before the winter break so that will give me time to test my team and see where I need to invest my money before the restart.

League Table


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Squad:


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[SnakeXe]

Good luck with Puebla!

[Paolo Willenté]

A quality 'keeper is always a bonus! Good luck in Mehico!

[AK22]

Already in a decent position, good luck for the rest of the season

[B.W.G]

Good luck in Mexico,your in quite a strong position already.A couple of signings and you should be challenging

[Azeryk`]

Thanks for the comments guys

I think the club over achieved in the open season so am expecting to finish lower in the close season. 3 matches so far, 2 red cards and 4 injuries

[Azeryk`]

Well that was perhaps the most depressing match so far:



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[deltablue]

I can imagine.

[Azeryk`]

Season 13
With the success from my past couple clubs, alongside being able to sign a new ML in the mid-season break I had high expectations for the close season at Puebla - the reality however was different. We never really got started and were lucky to finish in 7th and qualify for the league Q-Finals. Even in the knock outs we were inconsistent, we won the first leg 5-0 and then lost the second 2-4. In the semi-finals we faced powerhouse America (MEX) who gave us a lesson in how the game should be played beating us 0-5 and 2-3.

The main problem I've had at Puebla is their discipline record as we racked up a MASSIVE 16 red cards!! It didn't matter how I reacted afterwards, giving warnings, fining the player, they kept on getting sent off. I even had a DC sent off after ONE minute



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Season     Team                League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Club:

2011/12    Boston United       English Blue Square North    1st         Division Champions
2012/13    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2013/14    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  2nd         Lost in Play-Off Finals
2014/15    Boston United       English Blue Square Premier  1st         FA Trophy Winners
2015/16    Burnley             English Championship         1st         Division Champions
2016/17    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         League Cup Winners
2017/18    Arsenal             English Premier League       3rd         FA Cup Winners
2018/19    Arsenal             English Premier League       2nd         Champions League, FA Cup & Community Shield Winners
2019/20    Arsenal             English Premier League       1st         League, Champions League, World Club Cup & Community Shield Winners
2021       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League Champions
2022       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division     1st         League & Copa Libertadores Champions
2023       Sao Paulo           Brazilian First Division                 Copa Libertadores & State Champions
2023/24    Puebla              Mexican First Division       6th

Not sure what to think about next season, we don't have the money to really invest in the team to get them top 4 - although if I can keep 11 people on the pitch for 90 minutes then that should help towards our goal of improving next season.