Gundo Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Gundo's FM14 European Adventure Challenge™ The History Gundo's European Adventure Challenge was first introduced as an alternative to the dafuge challenge back on FM06. It is essentially a 'small club to big club challenge' with a different name. It has unearthed some true diamonds - player-wise over the years, to name just one - the Swedish/Polish youngster Patrik Burda was just magical for many of us on FM06 and 07. In truth it's the participants of the challenge that make it what it is, with stories of success and some of failure. Hopefully this challenge will be around for many more versions yet. Link to last years thread. One of the more memorable challenge attempts was that of La Furia Roja (Formerly Aussieant32) who fell in love with his chosen club FC Oss, so much, that he flew out to watch them irl! The full story was featured in the 'Football Manager Stole My Life Book'. The original thread documenting his FC Oss obsession can be seen here; I hav e fallen in love with my FM Club so much that I am flying abroad to watch them! The Aim To take a small club who where previously unplayable in the game from the lower leagues to their Domestic League Title and Champions League crown (doesn't have to be in the same season). I realize it's not an easy challenge, but should be a lot of fun trying. The Set-up European Leagues you can't use: England, France, Germany, *Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Turkey and *Scotland. . *FM13 League reputations - Eligible nations below the line (except *Ire & *Sco): England 185 Spain 180 Germany 172 Italy 170 France 155 Portugal 145 Russia 143 Turkey 135 --------------------[b][b] Netherlands 134[/b][/b][b][b] Ukraine 130[/b][/b] [b] Greece 128 Belgium 122 [/b][b] Romania 118[/b][i] *Scotland 117[/i][b][b] Denmark 115[/b][/b] [b] Switzerland 114[/b][b] Austria 112[/b][b][b] Czech Republic 112[/b][/b] [b][i] Israel 111[/i][/b][b] Poland 109[/b] [b]Serbia 108 [/b][b][b]Croatia 106 [/b][/b][b][b]Bulgaria 106[/b][/b][b][b] Slovakia 106[/b][/b][b] Norway 105[/b] [b][b] Belarus 104[/b][/b][b][b] Sweden 102[/b][/b][b] Slovenia 99 Hungary 98 [/b][b]Iceland 95[/b] [b]Finland 90[/b] [b] [i]*[/i][/b][i]Ireland 90 [/i][b] N. Ireland 72[/b] [b]Wales 58[/b] Getting started Load a game with all the available divisions within the nation you have selected; only one nation is allowed. You are free to use a Large, Medium or Small a database. You are free to load players from Top Clubs (Europe or All Continents - This increases the challenge at Continental Level). You are free to load Players Based in Your Nation Only. You are also free to load current international players from each continent if you choose. NO other additional customising is allowed. Attribute masking should be enabled. Add yourself as an unemployed Manager (hol_man); the details are not important at all. Then go on holiday until the new seasons teams are generated (each country will be different). An example: Norway's is 13th January. (Hint - saving the day before on 12th January for Norway, should give you a better choice of teams by being able to quit and reloading the game). A list of rough dates for your relevant nation will be listed below. League re-set dates from FM13 (+ denotes confirmed FM14 re-set dates) +Austria - 25th June. Belarus - 14th February. +Belgium -30th June. +Bulgaria - 1st July. Croatia - 20th June. CzechRepublic - 30th June. Denmark - 30th June. Finland - 7th January. +Greece - 20th June. +Netherlands - 7th July. +Hungary - 20th June. Iceland - 25th November. Israel - 20th June. +N.Ireland - 20th June. +Norway - 13th January. Poland - 30th June. Romania - 30th June. Serbia - 10th July. Slovakia- 29th June. +Slovenia - 1st July. Sweden - 15th December. +Switzerland - 20th June. +Ukraine - 27th June. Wales - 20th June. Remember to save a few days before unconfirmed dates to ensure they are correct. Then do the following... Then retire your original manager profile. Add a new manager, the options/details are up to you but 'past experience' must be set as 'Sunday League Footballer' or if that reputation isn't available then you must then select 'Automatic'. I understand that choosing your nationality may have an effect later on, but I trust people will be sensible with this, I would expect people to use their own nationalities/second nationalities. Take over one of the newly promoted clubs to the lowest playable division within your selected nation. If you are not sure about which clubs have been promoted simply check the nation overview screen and check the promoted teams to the bottom division in the 'season summary' section. It is completely up to you which club you choose, although please appreciate that some clubs may be easier to manage than others. example; Some clubs will have a full squad of players and staff, while others won't. Also some will have higher reputations than others making it easier to sign players ect. So choose wisely. The nation you've chosen to manage in will affect difficulty too. It is now up to you to manage your chosen club to their domestic title and to win the UEFA Champions League. You are not permitted to move between clubs unless you are sacked; whereby then you can either take over a newly promoted club to the lowest playable division next time the reset date comes round or simply quit your current save and start over. Any form of international management is not allowed, until you have completed the challenge. There are no restrictions on assigning feeder/parent clubs. Scouting Guidelines You can only sign players that you are able to scout or trial at the club first, so in short the player must have the 'Get scout report' button on his profile screen. The one exception to this is when you ask a current squad member to recommend a new signing, It is then ok to sign him as the player who recommended him knows of him anyway.If an agent offers you a player, it is ok to sign the player. No external utilities such as FMScout. Rules for this Thread Player naming is allowed. (This is a warning for those of you who do not wish to see this) Discussion on tactics is allowed. (This is another warning for those of you who do not wish to see this) Screenshots for anything in-game are encouraged, as are youtube clips of matches ect. I will advise you to put video clips as links only though and not as a direct click and play type.This will keep the thread fairly clutter free and make browsing it quicker. When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your managers Personal Screen (it's the screen that shows your starting rep., dob ect.) on the date you take control at your new club. Progress of your club should be documented using this thread. We want to hear the story of your club all the way through (success or failure). So please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly. At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including the minimum of a screenshot of the league table. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier for others to pick out. How to Post a Screenshot 1. While in FM, press the 'Prt Sc' button (usually next to F12 on your keyboard). 2. Open an image editing program such as Paint and paste the image 3. Save the file as a JPEG 4. Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket or Imageshack 5. Post the direct Url to the image here. Big thanks to johnnyquest409 for compiling the hall of fame for the last six versions. Enjoy the Adventure! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyquest409 Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Gundo's FM14 European Adventure Challenge™ Hall Of Fame FM08 |------------|------------------|-------------|---------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |------------|------------------|-------------|---------| | pjtopor | Hetman Zamosc | Poland | 2018 | | cookie15 | Skjetten | Norway | 2020 | | Quacky | Mendrisio-Stabio | Switzerland | 2019 | | Ridley | Rasharkin | N. Ireland | 2031 | | NepentheZ | Knockbreda | N. Ireland | 2037 | |------------|------------------|-------------|---------| FM09 |--------------|---------------------------|----------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |--------------|---------------------------|----------------|--------| | cookie15 | Lillehammer | Norway | 2021 | | Fastbasher | Karcag | Hungary | 2031 | | GarethKeenan | SC YF Juventus | Switzerland | 2025 | | Happy Slappy | Sparta Krc | Czech Republic | 2018 | | daemonic | CSM Olimpia Rîmnicu Sãrat | Romania | 2020 | | Quackje | Erzincanspor | Turkey | 2018 | | d-machine | GS Niki Volou | Greece | 2028 | | ToMexico!! | KVV Heusden-Zolder | Belgium | 2023 | | DodgeeD | Yalovaspo | Turkey | 2024 | |--------------|---------------------------|----------------|--------| FM10 |--------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |--------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| | cookie15 | FK Jerv | Norway | 2020 | | GarethKeenan | SC YF Juventus | Switzerland | 2037 | | SMPL | KRC Gent-Zeehaven | Belgium | 2017 | | B.W.G | Warrenpoint Town | N. Ireland | 2017 | | XaW | Berchem | Belgium | 2019 | | Razer82 | FK Vozdovac Beograd | Serbia | 2020 | |--------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| FM11 |--------------|---------------------------|-------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |--------------|---------------------------|-------------|--------| | B.W.G. | Bridgend Town | Wales | 2024 | | Marky Mark! | Dunloy | N. Ireland | 2025 | | Welsh Wizard | Barry Town | Wales | 2015 | | Thebaker | Budafok | Hungary | 2037 | |--------------|---------------------------|-------------|--------| FM12 |---------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |---------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| | Dexter_Morgan | SC YF Juventus | Switzerland | 2022 | | XaW | Budafok | Hungary | 2020 | | Mafino | FK Zemun | Serbia | 2026 | | Swinburn | Dromara Village | N. Ireland | 2022 | | vurogj | Sprimont | Belgium | 2025 | | Taunton | Tollnes | Norway | 2032 | | midgetram | FK Macva Sabac | Serbia | 2035 | |---------------|---------------------------|--------------|--------| FM13 |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| | Dexter_Morgan | Wiener Sportklub | Austria | 2017 | | Dexter_Morgan | Jadran Dekani | Slovenia | 2022 | | michaeltmurrayuk | Austria Salzburg | Austria | 2028 | | larxus | FK Linköping | Sweden | 2030 | | johnnyquest409 | FK Fotbal Třinec | Czech Republic | 2035 | |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| FM14 |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| | Challenger | Club | Nation | Year | |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| | brettney1980 | AEK Athens | Greece | 2023 | | Fastbasher | Monori SE | Hungary | 2044 | | smp20 | HK | Iceland | 2024 | | Dexter_Morgan | Lillehammer | Norway | 2024 | | kroblues | FAC Team für Wien | Austria | 2029 | | seb | Veszprém | Hungary | 2031 | | larxus | Steinkjer FK | Norway | 2026 | | Taunton | Arsenal-Kyivschyna | Ukraine | 2038 | |------------------|---------------------------|-----------------|--------| If anyone has details of completions pre-FM08, please let me know, the old threads have disappeared. And if anyone feels they've been missed off the above list, I apologise, please let me know so I can add you (if possible, provide a link to the completion). Gundo Challenge statistics (from FM08 onwards) Most successful country - Norway (six completions); Northern Ireland and Hungary (five completions each) Fastest completion - Welsh Wizard (Barry Town, FM11) and Dexter_Morgan (Wiener Sportklub, FM13) - 4 seasons Perseverance awards for longest completion - Fastbasher (Monori SE, FM14) - 30 seasons; NepentheZ (Knockbreda, FM08) - 29 seasons Countries not completed since FM08 (but almost certainly were completed on FM07 or earlier)- Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Belarus, Finland Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gundo Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Unsure yet where and what type of save to play this year to be honest, but yeah if it is in here Norway would be my likely port of call, just for a change. Yeah it's been missing a hall of fame fir some time now, that would be great if you can do that. Good luck in your save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neutronen Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I will try this in Wales again. Sadly I can't get my favorite team Barry Town as they have been withdrawn from the league. Now the team has to start all over as Barry Town United but in a inaccessible tier for this challenge. Off to find a new team! Already ticked of one challenge and that was to get Denmark to the World Championship, reached quarter finals! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocheBag Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Started this 2 days ago in Belgium with RFC Liege. Just finished the promotion playoffs, won 3-2 at home and then lost 1-0 away in a game that saw me hit the woodwork and both 2 CCC in the last 10 minutes. So it's another season in the 3rd division, I'll post up the screenshots and stuff tomorrow. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gundo Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 If you have confirmed dates for a nation just let me know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocheBag Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Belgium is June 30 as listed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oxslow Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Nice to see this challenge up and running again. Good luck all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tush Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I'm going to take part in this challenge, as my home team got relegated this season, so it's viable for this challenge I'll choose FC Petrzalka, a club from Slovakia. As I'm going outside now, I'll post screenshots later in the evening today. :-) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 This could be interesting this year in Greece if you can get AEK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 This could be interesting this year in Greece if you can get AEK I'd imagine that they'd pop up rather regularly due to their reputation. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rlipscombe Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 that's very true. it would be an interesting option for this challenge I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Holidaying in Norway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
london boy Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Just a small tip for those who are wanting to manage in Austria - I would suggest to retain the players from the Austrian Regional leagues before you start loading the game. I'm running a save with many leagues including the Austrian leagues and 133,000 players and by default not many of the Austrian regional league players are loaded. I don't know whether this is affecting other leagues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Ok. I am the new Manager of Årdal FK. Manager Profile [2] Team Staff (lol) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 http://i.imgur.com/B2vEbgU.png good start... >_< Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpaul15 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 Partizan-MTZ Minsk - Season 2014/15 Hello all! Off to Belarus for my first Gundo challenge! Manager Profile Manager Profile 2 Team Staff Board Overview Plenty of wage budget and even a transfer budget which shocks me somewhat. Time will tell whether I can use that to my advantage however. Ongoing updates: Update 1: Well, I completely forgot to check what date the transfer window/player registration closed. Ended up spending far too long scouting for only a few positions. As a result, my defense has been strengthened but my attacking positions are completely the same as when we got promoted. Update 2: I should also check the Belorussian league rules a little closer next time too. Apparently they enforce a minimum of 2 under-21s in the match day squad and at least one has to start. I guess buying youth has a slightly higher priority than usual this time around. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamFitz Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 I have taken over at Opava in the Czech Republic. I can confirm the restart date is still the 30th of June. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Managed to sign an Assman, Physio, Coach, GK Coach and Scout yesterday, plus about 6 young players. Not got as far as a friendly yet and have barely looked at my tactics! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexNFFC Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Looking forward to this challenge. I am still playing dafuges challenge with Kettering on FM13 so I will continue with that for the time being (until I complete the challenge or give up!) but I will definitely have a go at this when I eventually get round to buying FM14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 I am currently working on Droylsden in dafuge's challenge but I have wanted to manage in Northern Ireland for a while so I will probably do that after I'm done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpaul15 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Partizan-MTZ Minsk (Belarusian First League) - Season 2014/15 - End of Season Review - 14th League Table First Team and Stats Transfers Kovalenko Tactics So there's the first season out of the way. Considering we were tipped for relegation by the pundits, I consider surviving a great achievement. As you can see from the transfer history, I was constantly throwing players at the wall and seeing what sticks along with the tactic I devised. I'm still unsure about the tactic itself, but I'm going to assume it's fine for now with the proof being in not getting relegated with a bunch of players that counted as the worst in the league collectively. The one shining light in all of this was my 17-year-old CB, Kovalenko, who single-handedly held the line for the whole campaign and looks to be a great prospect for the future. Surprisingly, I've also got a couple of decent prospects in the new batch of youth this season, but I'm going to hold judgement until next season. Another piece of good news is that my average attendance of nigh-on capacity 2000 has warranted a new stadium due to be completed at the end of next season. Let's hope the fans can move into the stadium still playing league football. Targets for next season: Avoid relegation, improve on 14th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Haven't started quite as planned! Made a bunch of new signings, almost all under 19 though. Great preseason, winning against some higher division clubs. First game of the season we won and then drew the next 2. I was pretty happy with that. But then it all went wrong! 7 defeats in a row including losing 5-0 at home (though we actually played well here, were on top in all stats apart from those that matter). Morole is very low, I held a team meeting, but our next 2 games are against the top 2 teams, who are unbeaten so far... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyquest409 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Unsure yet where and what type of save to play this year to be honest, but yeah if it is in here Norway would be my likely port of call, just for a change.Yeah it's been missing a hall of fame fir some time now, that would be great if you can do that. Good luck in your save. OK, so I've so far got a list of completions for FM08, 09 and 10, but earlier threads appear to be gone unfortunately. I'll continue with later ones, but it looks like it might be impossible to put together a 'complete' hall of fame... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 It looks like Greece is 20 June (maybe the season summary came out on the 19th because I can add a manager for the promoted sides on the 20th). What am I saying I? Because I'm going to do this challenge, but under the auspices of ri916's FM14 Anglo/Euro Youth Academy Challenge. I was going to do it with the big fallen giant from that country, but I have fallen in love with AEL (who are a slightly smaller fallen giant) and by the time I realised my mistake, had developed a healthy antipathy for AEK Athens and their unpalatable big city ways. I will keep up with this thread and maybe lend my encouragement (for the half season it will take me to get sacked) but I'll be posting my updates on ri's. Anyway, the league reset date is wrong. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpaul15 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 You'll remember I mentioned a couple of promising regens coming through my youth system last season? Well, this was my most promising player - Malyshev Suddenly, I get an approach from Sevilla of La Liga fame for my young starlet, or more accurately an offer of £0. Outraged, I bumped the price up to £2.5m as a 'screw you' for Sevilla even managing to realize an obscure club in Belarus exists, let alone a 17-year-old DM plays for the club. A week later... Welp. Needless to say, this changes things a tiny bit for next season. Provided I stay up of course. Currently, I'm 8 points clear of relegation sitting in 10th place. Squeaky-bum time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Liverpaul - Lucky you! He's clearly potential if teams of that size have been sniffing around. Did you negotiate a % of next sale clause too? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpaul15 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Razer82 - I believe it was 25% next sale, whether it was profit or just any sale, I can't remember. It'll pop up in the clauses section when he eventually moves anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Razer82 - I believe it was 25% next sale, whether it was profit or just any sale, I can't remember. It'll pop up in the clauses section when he eventually moves anyway. Either way it's potential income at the end of the day. Will be interesting to see how his career pans out once he leaves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liverpaul15 Posted October 23, 2013 Share Posted October 23, 2013 Partizan-MTZ Minsk (Belarusian First League) - Season 2015/16 - End of Season Review - 11th League Table First Team Transfers Tactic A slight improvement over last season's 14th place finish; the league was certainly closer this season. Having now played two seasons with the same tactic, the overwhelming feeling is that the poor performance of the full backs are probably down to most teams playing with wide players and the full backs getting completely overrun. Next season, I'm going to sign some wide players of my own and run a basic 4-4-2 to see if that helps the situation somewhat whilst also keeping the existing tactic as a backup. Player-wise, the strikers and Kovalenko were the standouts, unfortunately, I ended up selling my star player at the start of the season with the loan back clause enabling him to play for one last season. Replacing him is going to be tough but I'm confident with £2.5m coming into the kitty as well as a new stadium that next season is going to be a better one. Belarusian Cup - Out in the first round Previous season - 14th (Belarusian First League) Goals for next season: Top-half finish, progress in the cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gundo Posted October 23, 2013 Author Share Posted October 23, 2013 That is a shame, look forward to seeing what you've put togeather though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Jonsson Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Just announcing that I will take on this challange as well (so I can't change my mind ). I installed the beta last evening but couldn't find time to start a save, but I will do so tomorrow evening at the latest. I always start in Sweden when I get a new FM, so that's a given. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 I started a game last night with Cefn Druids out of Wales, although I am at work right now and not able to post a screenshot of my manager. This will be an interesting challenge because since Wales has only one division, it is theoretically possible to get Champions League football next season. I was also surprised to notice that a number of players on my current team have 4 or 5 star current ability, which is interesting for a newly promoted team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Jonsson Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Noob question: I've hollidayed to the 15th December 2013 in Sweden, but how do I know that it's the reset date? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razer82 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Noob question: I've hollidayed to the 15th December 2013 in Sweden, but how do I know that it's the reset date? If the league hasn't reset, just go on one more day. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyquest409 Posted October 24, 2013 Share Posted October 24, 2013 Noob question: I've hollidayed to the 15th December 2013 in Sweden, but how do I know that it's the reset date? Go to a league table and see if it has reset to blank. You can find all the newly promoted teams on the season summary page. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Jonsson Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Go to a league table and see if it has reset to blank. You can find all the newly promoted teams on the season summary page. Thanks, that was what I was looking for. Seems so obvious now, but I didn't know where to look. Oh, and I can verify that the reset date in Sweden indeed is the 15th of December. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Jonsson Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Jonsson takes Västra Frölunda hot seat Game setup Database 2013 season summary Club overview - for some reason it doesn't show that they were relegated in 2012, but I've verified that they were. Manager profile Why Västra Frölunda? There were quite a few teams to choose from as you can see from the season summary, but I immediately knew that I wanted to take on Västra Frölunda. Partly because their pitch is located very close to where I live, but also because of the "sleeping giant" aspect. For some reason the club overview is buggy, but the fact is that they were relegated in 2012 and now (during the hollidayed season) bounced straight back into Second Division WG. As you can see from the club history, they were in the Swedish top flight as recently as 2000, but have fallen like a rock since then. Can I restore the team to former glory? Tactics I plan on developing a 4-4-1-1 with a very compact defense and quick attacks into space. I will be back with more details once the first season is over, and if my tactical ideas pan out (I have grand ideas), I might even put together a thread discussing the tactics over in the tactics forum. Will most likely take a while to get where I want though. The season in the lowest playable division in Sweden is rather short, so I expect to be able to blast through it reasonably quick, so hopefully I'll be able to update you on my progress soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Nice intro, good luck As for me, after a bit of an awful run, we've now put a good little streak together and are out of the relegation zone now! My squad is way too big though and I need to get rid of a lot of players once the season is up, assuming I stay up. I have 2 brilliant 17 year old defenders who are my star players, though neither are willing to sign new contracts at the moment. I should finish the first season tonight, so will do a full update then... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroblues Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Der neue Trainer für Wien! Virtually unknown manager Simon Richards has taken over newly promoted side Floridsdorfer Athletiksport-Club Wien, also known as FAC Team für Wien, winners of the Regionalliga Ost and now playing in the Erste Liga. Predicted to finish dead last in the Erste Liga, Die Blaulichter, who play at the Leopold Stroh Stadion, a 3000 capacity stadium with a 600 seats, will be hoping that the new Engländer in charge will be able to keep their heads above water. With around €650,000 left in the wage budget for this year, the new manager will have plenty of room to maneuver to achieve this goal. He will also have the help of SK Rapid Wien, who are willing to allow their younger players to experience football at a higher level than the Regionalliga with their Amateure squad. Information Profile- Says National but I set it to Automatic FAC squad list Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AFH Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Going to start this in Sweden. Loading up FM now Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroblues Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 Update: Transfers 2014 Summer and ÖFB Cup Round 1 Big change for Die Blaulichter in this early part of the summer, with 9 players coming in for a combined fee of €10.62k, although €9.5k of that was spent on Wolfsburger AC's winger Mario Kröpfl. The 24 year old right footer can play down both sides of the attack, but will primarily be utilised on the left, cutting in and leaving space for the marauding captain Olli Mohr. Other notable signings are the 23 year old striker Dejan Zadnikar, right winger Gorazd Gorinsek from AC Linden Leibnitz, UFC Fehring's 22 year old centre back Tomaz Avgustin and young goalkeeper Marc Traby, formally supplementing his railway worker's income by playing for the works team SC Ostbahn. Transfers With these signings strengthening the first team, it was a new look XI that began the new campaign, against lower division team Union Vöcklamarkt. ÖFB Cup Round 1 Union Vöcklamarkt v FAC As heavy favourites, despite being the away team, the onus was on FAC to get the season off and running smoothly. Early on it looked like they had done just that, as a throw in to the Vöcklamarkt box was not dealt with, and Gorinsek stole in to poke a toe at the ball, which sadly was too high and smashed off the crossbar and away to safety. They didn't have to wait long for the breakthrough however, as on 15 minutes Haas set the captain through on the left, and he put a nice ball in to Andi Bauer, who had slotted inside and found space inside the box to shoot high past the goalkeeper. Tor der Blaulichter! 1-0! Bauer then turned provider on 22 minutes, curling in a wonderful corner which Avgustin met inside the 6 yard box for the 2-0 lead. An injury to Jan Riegel meant a slight shuffle, with Dernic falling back into the CM slot, and Kühne coming on to make his debut at AM. Gorinsek, unlucky early on, was also forced to make way with an injury, leading to an introduction for club record signing Kröpfl to debut at his favoured right wing. HT: Union Vöcklamarkt 0-2 FAC Not a good start to the second half for the FAC, as a long ball into the box was dealt with poorly by Rusak, whose header only fell for Buchacher to knock the ball past Traby to reduce the deficit to 2-1 barely 40 seconds into the second half. Late on, Bauer had the chance to seal the victory with his second, but could only blast wide with nobody but the keeper ahead of him. No matter, as the final whistle went before the goal kick could be taken. FT: Union Vöcklamarkt 1-2 FAC Buchacher (46) - A. Bauer (15) T. Avgustin (22) Man of the Match: Olli Mohr A decent start, onwards in the cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anti Spiral Posted October 25, 2013 Share Posted October 25, 2013 End of Season Report: Årdal FK Season Summary: A season of ups and downs. We started ok, and got a great victory on the first day of the season. Followed by 2 strong showings against some of the better sides in the division... But then it went a little wrong for a while, a 5-0 defeat at home put us until early freefall and we went 10 games without a win (but still weren't bottom). I tweaked my tactics, brought in a few more defensive players and spent a while looking over my matches to determine the cause. A 1-0 win over the bottom side gave us a much needed win and then we went 7 games unbeaten, but still just about remained in the relegation places. But we were now a strong enough team to survive and put in a few great performances, home and away to steer clear of relegation... Though a freak 7-1 loss to Ålgård ruined the party atmosphere. Final Position: Aims for next season: I may adjust this as the season progresses, but my initial aim is for survival again. A few of my better players (particularly Ole Kristian Ueland, who has been my stand out player) will not sign new contracts, so I will have to look for replacements. - Survival - An out an out goalscorer - A little cup run - Stronger away performances. League Table Best XI Career So far... Season League Position Achievements -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Norweigen 2nd Division 10th My reports are always short and sweet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fabian Jonsson Posted October 26, 2013 Share Posted October 26, 2013 Season 1 summary The first season in charge of Västra Frölunda in the Swedish Second Division WG was a rather dull affair. While we opened with 3 wins and one draw, it didn't take long for Fässberg to establish themselves as clear front runners for the title. Only the title winners of the Second Division is promoted to the First Division South, so it became clear rather quickly that we would not be promoted this season. We hovered around the 2nd-5th spot the entire season (which is only 22 games long), and two poor performances in the last two games saw us end in a rather dissapointing 5th. League Table As you can see we conceded a few too many goals, and could've scored a few more the other end. I'm primarily concerned with the defense though, as I've found a lot of the goals we've conceded to be rather frustrating. I will look to strengthen the team in this area, particularly at the centre of the defense. First Team Speaking of transfers, I have let quite a few players go, and some had already been released when I took over, so the transfer history looks rather ridiculous. Transfer History Goals for next year is to strengthen the defense and look to stay in the title race for the entire season. Season League Position --------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Swedish 2nd Division WG 5th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoalieManPat121 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Still deciding on which game to start with. I started a Dafuge game the other day just to get in and start playing the game. I might sim a Gundo save and see who pops up before making my final decision on the first save. Being to first to complete with a team from Finland (of the known finishers since 08) is very tempting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indsæt Navn Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Alright guys, I just loaded up this challenge in Ukraine. Let’s see if I have the patience to complete it this time. I really hope so. Before I start, I should probably point out that the date where new teams are promoted into the Ukrainian First League has been changed to the 27th of June. The Ukrainian First League is expanded after the first season (meaning just as this challenge kicks off), so despite there being just two demotion spots in the First League, four teams are promoted into the division, making the league host 18 teams rather than 16. This obviously also means that there are more teams to pick from, and I did feel a little bad about not picking Obolon-Brewer Kyiv, who have good training facilities and great youth facilities, but as an Arsenal-fan, I couldn’t turn down the newly promoted Arsenal-Kyivschyna, whose shirts are red with white sleeves – just like the real thing! Arsenal-Kyivschyna may have rather run-down facilities (basic training & poor youth), but at least they play at a decently sized stadium which fits up to 15500 fans. In comparison, the Brewers from Obolong can only fit in 5000 at a time. And they’re probably all local drunks, going by the name of the team. Manager Profile – Squad Now the squad looks good, going by the assistant’s ratings, but I’m fairly sure he’s had too much to drink or something along the lines. Most of the players look pretty poor, but I’m pretty excited about the youth prospects. Didn’t expect to develop anything at this level, but I suppose the level of the competition isn’t THAT low. It’s the second tier in a country that has a couple of relevant clubs on the European stage after all. The club’s pretty starved for staff, but at least there’s an assistant manager, so I won’t have to go through the job advertisements. I can just grab a scout, a physio and perhaps a couple of coaches based off his ability to judge whether or not they’d be interested in coming along. Once I get that done with, I’ll look into finding some proper players – perhaps some of the ones that were released by the top tier teams. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 It's been a few versions of the game since i last had a go at this Challenge, in Hungary and i failed miserably. Now i'll try in Greece (Never managed there before) with the recently relegated Greek Giants AEK Athens Manager Profile|Info. The Squad YP0 Sokratis Maxakoulis Coach Report Honours and achievements Domestic Super League Greece: 11 1939, 1940, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994 Greek Football Cup: 14 1932, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2011 Greek Super Cup: 3 1971 (unofficial), 1989, 1996 Greek League Cup: 1 1990 Athens FCA Championship (local level): 4 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950 European competitions Finalist in Balkans Cup (1) : 1967 Semi-finalist in UEFA Cup (1) : 1977 Quarter-Finalist in European Champion Clubs' Cup (1) : 1969 Quarter-Finalist in European Cup Winners Cup (2) : 1997, 1998 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyquest409 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Good first season Anti Spiral, it's all about survival. Hopefully you can build on that. Fabian Jonsson, great start too Good luck in Ukraine and Greece Indsæt Navn and brettney. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kroblues Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Update: End of July 2014 The league season has begun! And very unspectacularly too, for FAC, who are yet to score and are sitting low in the table after 2 defeats in their first 2 games in the Erste Liga. A 1-0 home defeat to FC Admira, relegated from the Bundesliga was nothing to be too worried about, as FAC matched them and fell behind only to a great cross finished off by Rubén Rivera. The second game of the season, away to FC Liefering, left a lot more to be desired, with a 2-0 reverse and not a single clear chance for the FAC. With a busy month of Erste Liga action to come in August, including derbies against rivals SV Horn, TSV St. Pölten and First Vienna 1894, hopefully the new look FAC squad can pull themselves together and get that elusive first win of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Brettney - Good luck with AEK. The one thing that put me off was that I thought the boards expectations season 1 would be high. what are they like? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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