The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

Going to have a pop at this, still on FM15 but need to have a good go at a proper challenge.

@numero uno gunner - I'm enjoying my time in the lower division of Chile. Have had a promising start to the opening stage. Unfortunately have had little time to play and am quite slow at playing when I do have time!

Congratulations on getting 3 trophies ticked off the list in one update. Hopefully you can get a decent international job following the Euros.

Pug's Update Season 2027/28

Up First In The Copa America Group Stage Was A 3-1 Win Over Paraguay, Next Was A 1-0 Over Ecuador. Last Game Was A Easy 4-0 Against Chile.

Q-Finals Was A Bit Harder 2-0 Against Peru. Next Was A Hard Game Against Argentina, And A Last Minute Goal For A 1-0 Win. So On To The

Final And A 4-0 Win Against Mexico. Now With The Copa In My Cabinet Time To Move On.

So On To Try For The Champions League With The Chiefs. With Me Having To Fended Off Bids For Most Of My Player's, I Had A Unhappy Squad.

But With A Bit Off TLC And A Couple Off Friendly Win's, The Morale Climbed Back Up. First Game In The Preliminary Round Was A 9-1 Aggregate

Win Over ASFA-Yennega. First Round Was A 12-0 Aggregate Win Against Alianca Nacional. Second Round Was A 9-0 Against Berekum Chelsea.

The Group Stage Drew Us Against Etoile du Sahel/ Bloem Celtic And Al-Merreikh, 5 Wins And A Draw Saw Us Into The Semi's.

Up Next Was Primeiro de Agosto And A Aggregate Of 6-0. So The Final Was Against Last Year's Winners, And With A Aggregate Off 7-0

We Were Champs And Time To Resign. Applied For The Manager's Job's At Milan And South Africa.

                                                                       CLUB CAREER                      
                                                                      -----------
Season     Club                Leagues        Cups                                     Other & Notes
                              1st  2nd       1st  2nd    Cont   CWC                                                                        ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16    Cambridge Utd                                                               Promoted To Div 1.Won JPT                     
2016/17    Cambridge Utd                           Won                                 Promoted To Championship.
2017/18    Cambridge Utd                      Won                                      Promoted To Premier League,Won FA Cup
2018/19    Newcastle Utd       Won                                                     Won The Premier League
2019/20    Newcastle Utd       Won                 Won     Won                         Premier league/C1C/Champions League
2020/21    Newcastle Utd                                         Won                   Won Club World Cup
2020/21    Dortmund                           Won                                      Resigned NUFC Took Over Dortmund In 12th
2021/22    Dortmund            Won            Won  Won                                 Won All 3 Trophy's
2022/23    Monterrey                                       Won                         Won N American Champions League
2023/24    Monterrey                                                                   Resigned
2023/24    Marseille           Won            Won  Won                                 Won All 3 Trophy's
2024/25    Real Madrid         Won                 Won           Won                      
2025/26    Real Madrid         Won            Won  Won     Won   Won                   
2026/27    Kaizer Chiefs       Won            Won  Won
2027/28    Kaizer Chiefs                                   Won                         Won African Champions League


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  INTERNATIONAL CAREER
                                                                  --------------------

Season    Nation         Cups                                                                         Other & Notes
                        World Cup    Confed Cup    Euro's    AFC    ACON    Gold Cup   Copa America
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015      Iran U23                                                                                    Won AFC U23 Championship
2017      France U21                                                                                  Won U21 Championship
2019      England U21
2019      Algeria                                                                                     Never Played A Game
2020      Spain                                                                                       
2021      Spain                                                                                       Won UEFA Nations League
2022      Spain          Won                                                                          Won The World Cup
2023      Spain                                                                                       Won UEFA Nations League
2024      Spain                                     Won                                               Won European Championship
2025      Spain                       Won                                                             Won Confed Cup
2025      Brazil
2026      Brazil         Won
2027      Brazil                                                                        Won           Won Copa America

  Challenge Progress.
 -------------------

Club
----
5/10 Top Domestic Leagues(England-Germany-France-Spain-S/Africa)
5/10 Top Domestic Cups   (England-Germany-France-Spain-S/Africa)
3/5  Continental Cups    (Europe-North American-S/Africa)
1/1  Club World Cup      (Newcastle-England)

International
-------------
2/5  Continental Tournaments (Euro's-Spain/Copa America-Brazil)
2/2  World Tournaments       (World Cup-Spain/Confed-Spain)

lfc7 - For the purposes of the challenge, if your team wins something while you're the manager, it counts twords the challenge. You may have read people referring to 'doing a vike'. This is named after the time when i took over a Brazilian club less than a week before the second leg of the Copa Libertadores, which we won. I also took over a mexican side on the afternoon before the second leg of the final of the Mexican league (it has a cup format to decide the league winner). On that occasion, I was unsuccessful. I didn't go out of my way to try to take over at those points, but when you're looking for a job, sometimes these things fall into your lap. It's worth bearing in mind that for both of those jobs I applied a long time before. I took over at the last minute because that's when they offered me the jobs.

I think lots of people do this in the challenge. It's just that unfortunately I did it first and in the most brazen of manners. Sticking around and winning the thing properly can be called 'doing an lfc' because I sure as hell didin't wait around in Brazil very long.

Should be plenty of time to turn Aberdeen around. in fact I think that's a pretty solid job to land, in the SPL, but of course the problem with Scotland is going to be winning the league at a non-big 2 club.

Are you thinking of dipping your toes into international management. many of us end up finishing the club side first, so sooner started, sooner frustrated.

Yes i would give it a go if any jobs come up

@lfc7 - Good start! I never won the league in Northern Ireland, but did manage to claim the FA Cup. Hopefully with Aberdeen you can break the dominance of the big two.

Thanks hopefully if not hope to win a cup at least.

blackdevil Congrats on great season unlucky with Copa

kaiserwatman Congrats on Copa win and success with Sao Paulo

Pug407 Congrats on success with S/Africa and Brazil

Vike Congrats on 1st silverware

Cardiovascular Good luck

Shirajzl Congrats on the treble

mclarke1987 Congrats on Copa Lib

Numero uno gunner Congrats on great season

Been in work so haven't had much time to play although off for next few days

The Confederations Cup had always been set as the farewell tournament to probably the best international side have ever managed as Uruguay's Golden Era continued with victory over Brazil in the final . It had all started a bit sloppy as we never clicked into gear against Cameroon or Mexico before hammering the hosts China to qualify from the group. England under Sean Dyche were next up with Man City Midfielder Cabellero scoring the only goal . The final was a proper ding dong battle like all ties in the previous few years seemed destined for extra time before 20 year old Gonzalez popped up with the perfect time to score his first international goal.

Confederations Cup

Where to next ... Following leaving São Paulo I spent 5 months ideally looking for a job in North America but nothing of interest came up so have taken over at European Champions Tottenham Hotspur following Paco Jémez's retirement

They failed FFP last season so not sure what implications that will give me during the upcoming season . Internationally will wait til after the World Cup 2034 before making a decision on the future

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England

Challenge Progress

Club

3/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil

3/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil

1/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032

0/1 club world championship

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

Johor DT and Senegal

Bit of a mixed bag since my last update. I've played three more seasons, my first following on from my promotion with FC Cape Town. I finished 9th in the league so a fairly good season all round. Coming towards the end of the season and with a number of first team players refusing new contracts, I decided to move on. Unfortunately, finding a job was harder than I had anticipated and I went the next season without a club job. Eventually I took over at Johor DT in Malaysia, they are in a very healthy financial position and had a strong looking squad. I managed to finish 2nd in the league, 3 points off top although I am on the achievements board after a 1-0 Malaysian FA Cup win. Despite adding a couple of coaching badges and a strong increase in my reputation (mainly due to my international career) I plan on staying at Johor and give the league another shot.

Meanwhile, I was offered the Senegal job in 2019. Things have been pretty solid if unspectacular. A 3rd place and a Quarter Final in the African Championship of Nations, either side of a 4th place finish in the African Cup of Nations. I qualified for the 2022 World Cup and having drawn Italy, Spain and the USA things weren't looking promising. First game I played Italy, after being on the back foot for most of the game, Berardi gave them the lead in the 75th minute, we altered a few things and 10 minutes later a vicious Sadio Mane cross deflected off Rugani and into his own net. A battling 1-1 draw. Second game Spain, probably our best performance of the tournament, matching them in every department, apart from the most important. A 74th minute goal from Carvajal was good enough for Spain though. Final group game and we needed to better Italys result to qualify. We took the lead early before USA pegged us back shortly into the second half, we pushed forward and two fairly late goals saw us through thanks to Spain holding the Italians to a 1-1 draw. We drew South Korea in the second round, an early Henri Saivet goal cancelled out before half time, things stayed like that and the game finished 1-1. An uneventful extra time and we looked set for penalties, until the last minute of extra time. Heartbreak. The Koreans nicked a last minute goal and it was over.

So there we have it, I'll give it another go at the ACON and then attempt to move on to a different nation.

Season  Club            NAT  Division   1st      2nd    1st  2nd       Notes and Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16 Aberystwyth     WAL  Premier     8th             SF   SF       Took over after 14 games in 10th. Won 10 of 18. Resigned end of season.
2016/17 FC Cape Town    RSA  First      13th             2R            Took over after 16 games in 15th. Finished 13th.
2017/18 FC Cape Town    RSA  First       4th             1R            Missed out on playoffs on goals scored.
2018/19 FC Cape Town    RSA  First       1st             1R            Promotion.
2019/20 FC Cape Town    RSA  Premier     9th             QF   1R       Left at end of contract.
2020/21 No Job
2022    Johor DT        MAS  Super       2nd             W             3 points off top.


Year   Nation       Tournament         Result      Notes and Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2020   Senegal      CHAN               3rd
2021   Senegal      ACON               4th         Qualified for World Cup
2022   Senegal      CHAN               QF
2022   Senegal      World Cup          2R          Knocked out AET

Won't do a proper update just yet but took over at Thanda Royal Zulu in the South African First Division as my first job. Was expected to finish midtable but we've just won the league, absolutely delighted with that in my first season

We walked the league, simply put.

As I said before, I decided to ignore the cups but won FA Cup in the end because we secured the league so I put my best XI in semis and final.

In the Champions League, we got to the group stages and now it's that annoying part where such important games are played in the middle of the fu*king pre-season!

As far as Ivory Coast goes...another attempt and Nations Cup and another failure. It all started so well, with two wins over Mali 2-0 and South Africa 2-1. We lost the the third game with our backup players 0-1. Turns out me resting players did fu*k all since my first choice left-back, right winger and central midfielder all got injured within 4 days approaching the quarterfinals! We somehow won anyway, 2-1 over Senegal, but then my other central mid got injured as well. A decimated squad lost the semis to Cameroon (0-1) and Nigeria in 3rd place playoff.

Gutted and disappointed, I resigned again. I'm bad at international management, it seems.

Season     Team            League               Position       Domestic Cup           Continental Cup           Notes 

2015       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   5th           4th rnd                       -                  took over 13 games to go, 7th place
2016       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   1st           5th rnd                       -   
2017       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     6th           1/4 finals                    -    
2018       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     7th           4th rnd                       -   
2019       Seoul           K League Classic     3rd           runners up                  WINNERS              joined after 19 games, 6th place       
2020       Seoul           K League Classic     1st           WINNERS                     WINNERS  
2020/21    Sundowns        South African PSL    3rd           KC semis, FA 1st rnd       in progress           joined after 13 games, 11th place 
2021/22    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC WINNERS, FA quarters     won ACC     
2022/23    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC semis, FA winners       in progress              

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2021       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2021       Ivory Coast      -  
2022       Ivory Coast    African Champions of Nations - winners, World Cup - second round   
2023       Ivory Coast    African Nations Cup - 4th place   

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

1/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Unlucky with those injuries Shirajzl, always frustrating when that happens.

But congrats on the league and cup double.

13th Season

14th Season

15th Season

2033 was a good year for me, I moved out of South America and travelled to Canada to run Montreal Impact. Decided to make this a quick stop-over country because I feel to win the NACL I need a mexican club, but the MLS has drafts which is unusual and I fancied a pop at it. Although I didn't get my first league championship it was my first Top Division league title so can add one to my list (finally lol). To be fair though the season was kind of a walk, the only time I was losing matches was when 7-9 of my players were on international duty or the game after they returned. I also got the joy of being announced as the best Welsh Manager, not a giant feat granted but it's a milestone, I also completed my last coaching badge which should help me get the better jobs.

The plan was to move over to mexico to challenge for a 2nd top division title and the NACL - unfortunately Mexico jobs dont come up often (well worth while ones) so im going to give in and add the European leagues maybe take a pop at one of the International teams and run at a tournament if I find a good opening - time to rack up those achievements. No more picking my destiny time to let the game guide me. Figure I gotta come back eventually in order to complete the challenge so no urgency just yet.

Now swing over to Italy as im managing Roma, initially I figured i'd probaby hit 4-5th in the league and challenge for international spot but I did much better coming in 2nd. Inter just kept one game ahead of me the entire season and I couldnt creep ahead. Next year I will go for top spot. However, I did get the Italian & Euro cup so some progress on the challenge. My main concern is my ML/MR seem to let alot of balls slide past them and my Central Defenders lack the acceleration to pick them up, this is where the goals again me come from. The ML/MR would be nice to replace but priority has to be my Central Defenders. I may end up spending big money during the transfer window, hopefully the board will be ok with that if I bring home something shiny for them in return. I will off-load players to raise the money though as I have a few taking 60k+ wages who played 3 games all season thats not happening lol

2nd Season with Roma and we achieved the league title comfortable with half a dozen games to go - retained my Italian cup, unfortunately our Champions cup was ruined with a 4-0 2nd leg but im ok with that because I dont think this team in its current state is strong enough. I spent a fair bit but I made a profit selling players, I was able to sell a previous player of the year for big cash so that helped.

Its that time to move on again though, depending on where I go it could be a 1year stop or a couple of years. If I can find a flush club then I'll stick around to get the Club World Cup etc but if its a financial moot then I will stick around to win the league im not rebuilding big club finances at this stage the board tend not to like my sacking of average players who they consider gods lol I really want to step back into International management but I want it to be with my World Cup/Euro winning team but job opportunities aren't flowing freely at the moment

Season	Team 	 	Country	    League           Position	Notes          
16/17	Tolima Real	Columbia    Second Division  16th	Sacked with 1 game left to play.
2019    KL Spa          Malaysia    Premier League   6th        FA Cup Finalists, Avoided relegation
2020    KL Spa          Malaysia    Premier League   1st        Champions, QF of Malaysia Cup
2022/3  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division B 11th       11th when I joined (16th closing stages - finished 13th).
2023/4  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division B 4th        1st in opening stages, promoted via playoffs. MOTY
2024/5  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   14th       Avoided relegation
2025/6  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   8th        Avoided relegation, Play-offs second stage. MOTY
2026/7  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   3rd        Chile Cup Winner! MOTY
2027/8  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   5th        Super Cup Winner! Resigned.
2030/31 VIT             Brazil      First Division   14th       18th when I joined 12games in.
2031/32 VIT             Brazil      First Division   4th        Copa Qualification, Brazilian Cup SF
2032/33 VIT             Brazil      First Division   2nd        Copa Winner! CwC Finalist - MOTY
2033    Montreal        Canada      MLS              1st        Champions
2034/35 AS Roma         Italy       Serie A          2nd        Euro Cup Winner, Italian Cup Winner - MOTY
2035/36 AS Roma         Italy       Serie A          1st        Champions, Super Cup Winner, Italian Cup Winner - MOTY

Year	Team 	 	Country	    Tournament            Finished	Notes          
2017	U20's    	Columbia    Under 20's World Cup  QF	        Went out in QF on penalties.
2019	U20's    	Columbia    SA Championship       2nd	        Runner's up (WC Round 2)
2025	Senior    	Paraquay    n/a                   n/a	        World Rank #57 on hiring, 48th at end of Year
2026    Senior          Paraquay    n/a                   n/a           World Rank #54
2030    Senior          Paraquay    World Cup             2nd Round     World Rank #14 - Resigned after worldcup

Challenge
Top Division Leagues 2/10 - MLS, Italy
Domestic Cup 2/10 - Chile Cup, Italian Cup
Champions Leagues - Copa Libertadores

Following my successes in South America a trip back to England as Champions League Winners Tottenham was available following manager retirement . Champions of Europe and having won 2 of the previous 3 Premier League titles it wasnt going to be a massive challenge to grab a few trophies and chalk England off the list . It had all started pretty badly as the number of games played in the previous season took their toll with a series of long term injuries affecting key players. The European Super Cup was first up which was lost to FC Barcelona and an early exit from the League Cup soon followed . The message after 20 games in charge was the jury was still out following an unspectacular start .The World Club was won convincingly tho a bit hollow with Wins over Al Ahly 8-0 and River Plate 6-0 , i had been on the receiving end of a 5-0 club final defeat last season as São Paolo to Manchester City , this was the catalyst along with the return of quite a few of the injured players . The league was won at a canter though it did take extra time to defeat plucky Huddersfield Town of the Championship in the FA Cup Final

Europe went OK , getting out of the group easily as one could expect with been reigning champions . Victory over Benfica (3-1) and Bayern (5-5 away goals) lead me to Seville who took a 1-0 first round lead . A 2-0 win in London saw Tottenham into the final once again to face Inter . Confidence was high as well Italian sides had not done anything for years in Europe . Spurs leading striker Kujundzic showed his prowess knocking in after 18 mins to give the lead before his fellow Serbian teammate Alfirevic diverted into his own net to equalise on 49 mins . Despite consent pressure the Italians stood strong and it went to penalites . French International Marc Millot saved 3 of the 4 and Inter were victorious

Season Overview

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners

Challenge Progress

Club

4/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

1/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032

1/1 club world championship

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

Kwman - Great progress. You may complete quite soon, espeially since you have so many of the international trophies. Are you staying with Tottenham for the Champions League, or confident that you can get it at one of the other 4 big leagues?

mclarke - can't see your screenshots so I just want to check that you won the MLS Cup. Good luck getting the next job.

shira- You're not the first to think that they aren't good at international management, but you were probably just unlucky. Lots of good teams in Africa. A frustrating thing for me with international management is that aftre nearly a year (it seems a lot longer) with Jamaica, the squad are still only awkward with the tactics i want to use. Mind you, i don't think we're grossly under-achieving, and I think winning the Gold Cup with them is going to be a real outside chance anyway. Maybe I will need to use a more vanilla tactic for international management though.

butts - congrats on promotion.

TommyT - Hope you can go one better in the malaysain league. well done on your first trophy.

N1Gunner - Turns out that I've never had a Han baojun in my squad. (He's probably a regen in your game). Maybe I know a Han Baojun in real life. I've ben playing a Fang Boxuan in the first team, to rather disappointing effect, thinking it was the same guy who had done so well for you. I'm going to drop his arse now. You'd think I'd be able to not get Chinese names mixed up.

Nope won the league but not the cup. The division itself is the MLS Supporters Shield - but referring to as MLS for short. Are you saying I need to go back and win the cup for it to count? I thought that was seperate like the Community Shield stuff

Nope won the league but not the cup. The division itself is the MLS Supporters Shield - but referring to as MLS for short. Are you saying I need to go back and win the cup for it to count? I thought that was seperate like the Community Shield stuff

These are the guidelines.

MLS (USA) - For challenge purposes the MLS Cup counts as the league, and the US Open Cup counts as the cup. The Canadian Championship, and the league section of the MLS don't count for anything.

league specific things are in post 3. I mean, we can change things, but we have to have a decision about what counts as the league, and I think there's a broad consensus on this thread that the MLS Cup champions are the league champions.

if you type the words 'MLS league champions' into a search engine, the top result is the wikipedia page for the MLS Cup. The nearest analogy isn't the Community Shield. it's the Superbowl.

I feel bad because you've already left the MLS.

Incidentally, it states in post 3 that in Australia, Wellington Phoenix aren't in the FFA Cup, but I did a save with wellington phoenix recently, and they were in the cup, so I've removed that bit.

It's no problem i'll adjust my tally for the next update and return in a few years im with Man United at the moment so it'll at least be something to tick off. My rep has improved massively so I can cherry pick when I return lol I may end up skipping America's league and going straight to mexico to scoop the NA parts of the challenge. I will have a glance over post 3 cos some of these cups/competitions do raise my brow a bit they aren't the simplest of structures to work with lol

I see this thread is how it used to be on the original Ultimate Manager Challenge, which is excellent because as already stated, this thread has a real "community" feel to it and as I've said many times, is the most enjoyable challenge I've ever taken part in....even though I'm not that good at it, it's the enjoyment and frustration in equal amounts that keeps me plodding along!!

Which brings me to my own save and a season review of sorts.......although there's nothing to report as I've been SACKED AGAIN!!

South Korea - I've had it with that country, it truly is mental.

I'd assembled a decent squad, I'd assembled the best staff, scouts and physios in the league, I was doing okay in the league, I was through to the quarter finals of the FA Cup and The Champions League.

Then with many of my squad being internationals I was asked if I'd like to postpone three matches, which I thought I'd better do, plus for some reason, I was already one match behind everybody else, so in effect I was four matches behind the majority of the teams (Pohang were in the same situation)

This meant that I'd dropped down to 7th position but was only 9 points off top spot so there really wasn't an issue as far as I was concerned.......but the board wanted to discuss my league performance!!

They gave me an ultimatum of 12 points from 5 games or I'd be on my way.

I won the next three matches comfortably (teams above me were winning too, but I still had those games in hand)

Then I only got a draw against Ulsan, giving me ten points from four matches which meant I had to win my next match to save my job.

The match was away against Pohang, of all teams, and I could only manage a 0-0 draw.

So that was it......sacked. Again.

The season in Korea has finished and Seoul won the FA Cup and finished second by two points to Jeonbuk.

I'm now searching for a new job........but NOT in South Korea!!!

Internationally, I dipped my toes, firstly with Cameroon, but I resigned after two matches in the CHAN - I don't like that tournament.

Took over the reigns in Morocco, who had already qualified for the World Cup and were top of qualifying for the ACON.

The World Cup didn't go well, I lost to Argentina and Greece, who are ranked much higher than Morocco and I disappointingly lost to Jamaica so I crashed out in the group stage.

I've since qualified for the ACON and I'm about to discover which group I'll be put in.

Season	Team		Country       	Pos	Notes          
15/16	Linfield		N. Ireland	6th	Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season
16/17	Cliftonville    	N. Ireland	3rd	Took over in January, Euro Qualification
17/18	Cliftonville    	N. Ireland	4th	League Cup Winners
18/19	Cliftonville   	N. Ireland	1st	Champions, Manager Of The Year
19/20	Shanggang	China	1st	Champions, Cup Winners, Manager Of The Year     
20/21	Shanggang	China	N/A	Resigned after being knocked out of Champs League
20/21	Jeonbuk		S. Korea	4th	Cup Winners, Knocked Out 2nd Round Champs League
21/22	Jeonbuk		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked4th in league, QF of Champs League, SF of FA Cup
22/23	Pohang		S. Korea	6th	Cup Winners, knocked out in SF of Asian Champs League
23/24	Pohang		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked after first match of the new season!!
24/25	Seoul		S. Korea	3rd	Took over with 14 games played, qualified for Champs League
25/26	Seoul		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked - Team finished 2nd & won FA Cup




International
2026	Cameroon	Africa		Resigned after 2 matches
2026	Morocco		Africa		Eliminated in Group Stage at World Cup, qualified for ACON

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland, China)

3/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland, China, S. Korea)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/2 world tournaments ()

threelions1goal, not a good season to get sacked! Will you stay in South Korea and finish the mission that you need the domestic league cup? If yes, what team will you manage? Then, is there a chance to see the results of the matches between your new team and both Pohang and Seoul when you found a new South Korean team to manage here?

threelions1goal, not a good season to get sacked! Will you stay in South Korea and finish the mission that you need the domestic league cup? If yes, what team will you manage? Then, is there a chance to see the results of the matches between your new team and both Pohang and Seoul when you found a new South Korean team to manage here?

Don't think I'll stay in South Korea, I'm done with the mentalist Boards that control the clubs!!

I've won the cup there and it's not as if the league is essential for the purpose of the challenge, although at some point I'll have to manage in Asia again as I'll need the Asian Champs League.

Incidentally, it's about time I gave a "big up" to a few people who are doing really well here.....

Kaiser - Impressive career you have going there, especially on the international side of things

McLarke - Winning the Italian league is impressive, so too the MLS - I've thought about applying for jobs there but the roster/transfer thing looks mental...!!!

Shiraz - In the two countries I struggle the most (S. Korea & S. Africa) you've done excellent!!

Tommy T, lfc, Vike and all the others I've missed, hope you're enjoying it still

Morocco - African Cup Of Nations 2027

Winners!!

On the club front, I've nothing to report as I'm still unemployed, but Internationally, I've won my first piece of silverware.

Morocco were ranked 44th in the world and we were drawn in a group withGuinea, Ivory Coast (ranked 12th ) and Congo.

Our first match saw us comfortable winners against Guinea with a 2-0 victory, so we were off to a good start. Then came our biggest test, Ivory Coast, where we managed a creditable 1-1 draw and finally a 3-0 win against the weakest team in the group, Congo, meant we had topped the group as Ivory Coast and Guinea had a draw.

In the Quarter Final, we were drawn against Tunisia and managed a 1-0 win after extra time - we were quite fortunate in that match, but everybody needs a little luck!!

The semi Final saw us pitched against my old team, Cameroon, but they were never at the races and we won comfortably 3-1, which saw us into the final against Algeria, who were the home nation

After we'd taken the lead and they'd equalised, when we missed a penalty, I thought we'd blown it. But we were awarded another penalty which we scored and then got one more goal to win 3-1 and make us winners of the tournament........and the fans love me!!!!

I don't think Morocco are strong enough to compete in the World Cup - and it's still another three years away, so I'll be moving onto pastures new......just gotta try and get a club job now!!

Season	Team		Country		Pos	Notes
15/16	Linfield	N. Ireland	N/A	Took over in December, SACKED before end of season
16/17	Cliftonville	N. Ireland	3rd	Took over in January, Champs League qualification
17/18	Cliftonville	N. Ireland	4th	League Cup Winners
18/19	Cliftonville	N. Ireland	1st	Champions, Manager of the Year
19/20	Shanggang	China		1st	Champions, FA Cup Winners, Manager of the Year
20/21	Shanggang	China		N/A	Resigned after getting knocked out of Champs League
20/21	Jeonbuk	        S. Korea	4th	FA Cup Winners, 2nd Round Champs League
21/22	Jeonbuk	        S. Korea	N/A	SACKED – despite 4th in League, QF of Champs League, SF of Cup
22/23	Pohang		S. Korea	6th	FA Cup Winners, SF of Champs League
23/24	Pohang		S. Korea	N/A	SACKED after first match of the season!!
24/25	Seoul		S. Korea	3rd	Took over after 14 games, qualified for Champs League
25/26	Seoul		S. Korea	N/A	SACKED – team finished 2nd in league & won FA Cup


International
2026	Cameroon	Africa		Resigned after 2 matches
2026	Morocco	        Africa		Eliminated in Group Stage of World Cup, qualified for ACON
2027	Morocco	        Africa		ACON Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland, China)

3/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland, China, S. Korea)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship ()

International

1/5 continental tournaments (ACON – Morocco)

0/2 world tournaments ()

I ended my Tottenham reign a couple of days before the Charity Shield as well a sixth English campaign just didn't appeal to me . As the weeks went by there wasn't much of interest . Hertha Berlin drew my attention as it hit a precarious position but it never became available . The MLS started to appeal and negotiations with Toronto FC began swiftly following the end of the regular season . I've never managed here before and really enjoyed the quirky regulations thrown into the structure. There was to be no continental football as Montreal Impact were current champions of Canada and therefore held the one qualification spot .

A predominately Canadian side with a few Costa Ricans chucked in for flavour the season started well enough considering 6 of the opening 8 games were away for some reason . First up was continental qualification and victory over Vancouver saw me into the decider against Montreal Impact who were dethroned. Getting towards the business end of the season it was once against Montreal in the Eastern Conference Semi Final . Once again it was Toronto who prevailed in a tight tie . New England Revolution awaited in the decider. The Manager was lead out by both sides to rapturous applause on his 1001th game in charge. The game itself was a dire 0-0 draw. Two quick goals just after half time broke the revolution spirits and Toronto were heading to the MLS Cup final. A 2-0 victory over Sporting KC followed as Toronto won the MLS Cup for the first time in their history.

Season Overview

Staying here for now for a crack at the North American Champions League though i suspect i might need travel south to Mexico to have a better chance at it .

I definitely wont be heading to South Korea judging by things that have gone on in other peoples saves

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners
2034    Toronto FC          USA             --
2035    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

5/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England , USA

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

1/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032

1/1 club world championship - Tottenham 2033

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

A successful season with transition.

At Sundowns I only aimed to win the CL at all costs and we did it. I immediately resigned and looked for new pastures.

I landed at Palermo at 11th position after the same amount of matches. The team looked good at first, but as soon as injuries stroke, I realized there's lots to do because I played many games with basically only 2 useful players on the bench.

Anyway, we almost grabbed a CL spot, while we lost to Napoli in the cup semis.

The club is in horrible financial state with about 30 million in the red, so we'll see how long I'll stay here. I think I'll jump at the first chance of moving to a richer Italian club.

Season     Team            League               Position       Domestic Cup           Continental Cup           Notes 

2015       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   5th           4th rnd                       -                  took over 13 games to go, 7th place
2016       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   1st           5th rnd                       -   
2017       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     6th           1/4 finals                    -    
2018       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     7th           4th rnd                       -   
2019       Seoul           K League Classic     3rd           runners up                  WINNERS              joined after 19 games, 6th place       
2020       Seoul           K League Classic     1st           WINNERS                     WINNERS  
2020/21    Sundowns        South African PSL    3rd           KC semis, FA 1st rnd       in progress           joined after 13 games, 11th place 
2021/22    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC WINNERS, FA quarters     won ACC     
2022/23    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC semis, FA winners        WINNERS    
2023/24    Palermo         Serie A              4th           TIM Cup semis                 -                  joined after 11 games, 11th place  

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2021       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2021       Ivory Coast      -  
2022       Ivory Coast    African Champions of Nations - winners, World Cup - second round   
2023       Ivory Coast    African Nations Cup - 4th place   

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul, Africa-Sundowns)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

threelions1goal : I'm so jealous of your winning the Nations Cup. I tried twice and failed miserably. International management seems so difficult, what with limited player options and fitness issues at big tournaments.

Finally found some motivation for this challenge again, so next update should be out tomorrow hopefully, 1 season with Milan is already played, and dipping into next one but not sure ow quickly I can finish that one.

Toronto FC 2036

Two consecutive MLS Cups and all should be rosy right ... wrong , that's not how things work in the US and I am in a place where having seriously overstretched in the past two seasons with salary cap problems. The season was won quite comfortably though there was a wee wobble in the Eastern Conference Final as i trailed Orlando after the first leg. A 2-0 victory over LA Galaxy clinched the title.

Experienced full back Martin Gould was traded to LA Galaxy whilst Costa Rican International Maurico Aguilar was waived and picked up by Seattle Sounders . The main part of the season was actually occurred at the start of the 2037 season as the NACL follows the Mexican season. A slender 1-0 lead from the opening fixture at the Rogers Stadium against Chivas came at a cost as club record scorer Will Cabello twisted an ankle and would miss the start of MLS Campaign

In the second leg , Chivas took an levelled the tie on 18 minutes and were completely dominant in the first half . Trying to get back in front once again Toronto were caught on the break on 61 mins and Chivas were in front. The Mexicans overall deserved to go through given the better chances created. 4 US sides played 4 Mexican sides in the quarters with the Mexicans prevailing in all ties leads me to thinking i may need to head south for this competition . I dont enter the US Open Cup so nothing left to stay here for

Season Overview

shirajzl - Good Luck with Palermo , Is Zamperini still about , has a tendancy to sack people

3L1G - Congrats on ACON , hopefully you can resurrect your club career somewhere outside of South Korea soon

mclarke1987 - Cracking italian campaign

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners
2034    Toronto FC          USA             --
2035    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2036    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

5/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England , USA

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

1/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032

1/1 club world championship - Tottenham 2033

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

Finally found some motivation for this challenge again, so next update should be out tomorrow hopefully, 1 season with Milan is already played, and dipping into next one but not sure ow quickly I can finish that one.

Welcome Back

Right lots to catch up on before posting my end of season update!

Congratulations on the Copa America and success in South Africa pug407. Did you get the Milan and South Africa jobs?

Awesome career you have going there Kaiserwatman. That Uruguay team looked quite something.

Hope you can go one better next season in Malaysia Tommy Tusker and good luck in the ACON with Senegal.

Shame about the injuries with Ivory Coast shirajzl. Hope you can turn the finances around at Palermo or find a richer club.

Good two seasons with Roma mclarke1987 - will be interested to see where you end up next.

Crazy sackings in South Korea threelions1goals. Top work winning the African cup of nations with Morrocco to win your first international tournament.

Apologies if I missed anyone!

Nublense 2016/17 summary

We started the season with 14 players leaving the club either because they weren't in my plans, they didn't want to renew their contracts or the offers received were too good to refuse. After impressing last season, I bought in centre back Washington Torres and striker Osman Huerta. I also bought in 5 loan players from Chilean and Argentine top division clubs to help bolster the squad and provide a bit of quality.

The season started well with finishing 2nd in the opening stage despite only 2 wins in the last 5 games. Sadly this form was a sign of things to come and we crashed out in the playoffs 4-2 on aggregate to Deportes La Serena after a 3-1 defeat away from home. In the mid season break, my best defender stated he wanted to leave after interest from a first division side. Reluctantly I let him go for £11.25k and reinvested this in bringing in a Gambian centre back from giants Colo Colo. I also signed an Argentine attacking midfielder on a free and made the loan of central midfielder Francisco Gaete permanent.

The closing stage started pretty poorly with 1 win, 4 draws and 1 loss from our opening 6 games. We made Bicentenario Municipal Nelson Oyarzún a bit of a fortress with 5 wins and 2 draws, but it was a completely different story away from home. We lost 5 and drew 3 of our 8 away games and ended up finishing a disappointing 11th in the closing stage and 4th in the overall table.

Wing back Matias Guttierez on loan from Colo Colo was voted fans player of the season and rightly so with the second highest average rating in the division and most assists. Venezuelan striker Emilio Renteria also deserves a mention with 16 league goals - the second highest in the division.

My contract is up at the end of the June and (unless they offer me a cracking deal) I don't think I will renew as I was starting to lose interest. I will look for a job maybe in South Africa, or Australia if I'm very lucky.

Season     Team        Position    Notes and Achievements
2015/16    Nublense    11th        Took over with 12 games to go
2016/17       Nublense    4th       2nd in opening stage; lost in playoff semi final

Challenge Progress




Club
0/10 top domestic leagues 
0/10 domestic cups 
0/5 club continental championships 
0/1 club world championship




International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments 

Alright lads not had much time to play, but after leaving Cliftonville i didn't fancy any jobs offered till Aberdeen who were 11th on 8pts in October, they were already out of one cup then i went out of the other in the qtrs against celtic. Finished 3rd in the league a good way behind Celtic and Rangers although was about 29 pts behind Celtic when i took over. My contract is for one more season so hoping to win at least something.

Kiaserwatman Congrats on all success since last posted, you are not far off completing now.

Tommy T Congrats on first bit of silverware.

shirajzl Congrats on success in SA, good luck at Palermo.

mclarke1987 Congrats on success with various clubs.

threelions1goal Unlucky with S.Korea, congrats on winning ACON.

Sorry if i've missed anyone out

Season     Team                Country         Position   Notes 

15/16       Cliftonville        N.Ireland         1st       Took over 3 games to go in 2nd place Won league
16/17       Cliftonville        N.Ireland         1st       Won League, Co.Antrim Shield, 2ndR NI L Cup, Qtrs NI Cup. Resigned took Aberdeen Job
17/18       Aberdeen            Scotland          3rd       Took over Oct in 11th on 8pts, already out of one Cup, lost in Qtrs of other                                                                                         

Season     Nation            Competitions       

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (N.Ireland)

0/10 domestic cups

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Santos Laguna 2037

Mini update of sorts as it finishes off the 2037 calender year. I continued on with Toronto until July when the job at NACL Champions Santos Laguna came up following their previous manager's move to FCP. Given Mexican dominance within the competition it was a move that had to be made. My first game in charge was in the Campeón de Campeones against América which was lost 1-0 . A fairly slow start followed in the Apentura as the team adapted to my tactics though after a few games things started to fall into place. By the end of the phase Santos Laguna held top seed. 8th place Dorados were first up and were dispatched 3-1 on aggregate to setup a semi final with Toluca.

At this point the World Club championships were been held at the old stomping ground and fate drew Toronto and Santos Laguna to play in the quarter finals and it required penalties following a 1-1 draw. FC Bayern were up next and well as you can expect they went through quite easily . A 1-0 victory over Liandong saw Santos Laguna pick up third spot. Following the tournament a tired side returned to play Toluca losing out on away goals . Monterray went on to win the Apentura

The NACL group phase was pretty easy following a draw against Panamanian and Trinidad sides , another battle against Toronto awaits in the quarter final

Season Overview

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners
2034    Toronto FC          USA             --
2035    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2036    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2037    Santos Laguna       Mexico          X

Challenge Progress

Club

5/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England , USA

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

1/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032

1/1 club world championship - Tottenham 2033

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

16th Season

17th Season

18th Season

This year I moved over to England, the Manchester United job came up and given the funds they tend to have I figured it would be a good time to grab some of those international tournaments, although I didn't do my due diligence and realize they have been out of that scene for a while... there last league title being in 15/16 - The board wanted us to compete for the Continental tournaments but they through a big budget my way so I decided to spend big (in excess of 200mil) - but we got rewards for it, League Title, Capital One Cup & FA Cup. I did find though that getting the win became a late second half thing after we clinched the title with 8-9games to go. I have sold one of my central defenders who was an important player and need some quality depth for my wings, so I'll be spending more but I'm planning to ship a few low quality players. Hopefully the club wont mind if I retain the title and challenge internationally.

I also stepped back into International management with Mexico, short spell though just won the Gold Cup then left to go for Nigeria try tag a second international achievement. However, when Nigeria offered the job I decided to pass for now - hoping for something better.

Still keeping my eye out for new international jobs but Man U have defended the title and beat last years points tally, I cant help but feel its a lack of a feat as I have a huge budget at my disposal but they were wallowing in mid-table obscurity and absent from the International scene so theirs kind of a come-back king mentality brewing in me. We narrow skipped past Barcelona in the Champions Cup but they are currently 8th in their league, I did play with 2 injured strikers in the 2nd leg so was fortunate to escape. Shortly after that a 6-1 win against Stoke secured the title early for us.

My final year with Man United and I only had one target, Club World Championship. I waited and waited for the draw, survived a board takeover whilst waiting around for it to inevitably arrive to realize I only get 2 games lol The Semi-final was a walk didn't make a single sub and creamed the weaker opposition. The final was against INT and despite controlling possession and have 5x more shots it was a close fought match and we took the lead in the 84rd minute then sealed it with a third on the 88th minute for a 3-1 victory. This victory unlocked the World Renowned achievement and im now ranked #17 in the world.

I decided to resign from Manchester United as theirs little else to gain so I'll be looking for some other clubs, time to press on with some top division titles in the coming years. I also need to find a decent International team I can stick with hopefully a European powerhouse so I can target the Euro and World Cup with the same team. Maybe I'll pick up a team with financial problems to contrast the wealth of Man U? Who knows!

Season	Team 	 	Country	    League           Position	Notes          
16/17	Tolima Real	Columbia    Second Division  16th	Sacked with 1 game left to play.
2019    KL Spa          Malaysia    Premier League   6th        FA Cup Finalists, Avoided relegation
2020    KL Spa          Malaysia    Premier League   1st        Champions, QF of Malaysia Cup
2022/3  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division B 11th       11th when I joined (16th closing stages - finished 13th).
2023/4  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division B 4th        1st in opening stages, promoted via playoffs. MOTY
2024/5  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   14th       Avoided relegation
2025/6  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   8th        Avoided relegation, Play-offs second stage. MOTY
2026/7  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   3rd        Chile Cup Winner! MOTY
2027/8  Cobreloa        Chile       First Division   5th        Super Cup Winner! Resigned.
2030/31 VIT             Brazil      First Division   14th       18th when I joined 12games in.
2031/32 VIT             Brazil      First Division   4th        Copa Qualification, Brazilian Cup SF
2032/33 VIT             Brazil      First Division   2nd        Copa Winner! CwC Finalist - MOTY
2033    Montreal        Canada      MLS              1st        Finalist - No Win
2034/35 AS Roma         Italy       Serie A          2nd        Euro Cup Winner, Italian Cup Winner - MOTY
2035/36 AS Roma         Italy       Serie A          1st        Champions, Super Cup Winner, Italian Cup Winner - MOTY
2036/37 Man U           England     Premiership      1st        Champions, C1C Winner, FA Cup Winner - MOTY
2037/38 Man U           England     Premiership      1st        Champions, C1C Winner, FA Cup Winner, Champions Cup Winner - MOTY
2038/39 Man U           England     Premiership      1st        Club World Championship Winners - Resigned

Year	Team 	 	Country	    Tournament            Finished	Notes          
2017	U20's    	Columbia    Under 20's World Cup  QF	        Went out in QF on penalties.
2019	U20's    	Columbia    SA Championship       2nd	        Runner's up (WC Round 2)
2025	Senior    	Paraquay    n/a                   n/a	        World Rank #57 on hiring, 48th at end of Year
2026    Senior          Paraquay    n/a                   n/a           World Rank #54
2030    Senior          Paraquay    World Cup             2nd Round     World Rank #14 - Resigned after worldcup
2036    Senior          Mexico      Gold Cup              Win           World Rank #8  - Resigned after gold cup

Challenge
Top Division Leagues 2/10 - Italy, England
Domestic Cup 4/10 - Chile Cup, Italian Cup, C1C, FA Cup (England) 
Champions Leagues - Copa Libertadores (VIT), Champions Cup (Europe - Man U)
Club World Championship - Man United 38/39

International
1/5 continental tournaments (Gold Cup w/Mexico)
0/2 world tournaments ()

Challenge

Top Division Leagues 2/10 - Italy, England

Domestic Cup 4/10 - Chile Cup, Italian Cup, C1C, FA Cup (England)

Champions Leagues - Copa Libertadores (VIT), Champions Cup (Europe - Man U)

Club World Championship - Man United 38/39

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Gold Cup w/Mexico)

0/2 world tournaments ()

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Haven't you won the Malaysian League as well, so there should be 3 league wins?

I decided to leave Nublense at the end of my contract and after a 4 hour drive to Santiago I jumped on a flight to Tashkent (via Paris and Moscow) to take over the national team of Uzbekistan. The team finished second behind Bahrain in their second round group of World Cup qualifying so won't be going to Russia in 2018. I take over with the team at the top of the Asian Nations cup qualifying after 1 game with Thailand, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh behind me. Uzbeksitan are currently 88th in the FIFA rankings and only have one goalkeeper in the player search - better hope he doesn't get injured!

Haven't you won the Malaysian League as well, so there should be 3 league wins?

Nope unfortunately Malysia has a higher division (super league i think its called) but im sure they will come thick & fast now since my rep is high I can pretty much pick the roles I want without much rejection. I'm hoping to manage spain if the job comes up, maybe germany they would be teams capable of multiple international tournaments.

Uzbekistan 2017 update

I took over Uzbekistan in July 2017 and had 5 friendlies and 2 Asian Cup qualifiers during the remainder of the year. I ended the year with a record of winning 5 and drawing 2. I beat Japan 2-1 in my first game in charge, Malaysia 3-0, Nepal 1-0 and Oman 2-1. I had a disappointing 0-0 draw with Thailand in the Asian cup qualifiers, but beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0 to remain on track to qualify for the Asian Cup. A few of my players are retiring soon, so may have to have a rethink of tactics etc. I've loaded up the Russian and Chinese leagues in a hope that this will generate some Uzbek regens. 2018 sees the end of Asian Cup qualifying and I will also try to arrange some friendlies (some easy for morale and some more challenging for ranking points).

Santos Laguna 2038

The Clausura saw a battle between Santos Laguna and América as both needed to qualify for the Concacaf Champions League following a surprising Apertura campaign . América dropping a mere 4 points in the campaign with their defeat coming at the hands of Los Guerreros who followed suit . The main part of the season for me was the Champions League and a trip back to the BMO Stadium was in store . Club record scorer Will Cabrillo who was prolific under Limpar notched an early goal and Toronto were in front but failed to press further ahead. Santos Laguna gained the upper hand after the break and a long range strike from full back Peréz got them back on level terms . The second leg was a dire 0-0 draw .

LA Galaxy were up next though 1-0 wins in both legs saw the Mexicans into the final once again.

The current holders were drawn against América who they were battling also for The Clausura . NACL First Leg was dominated by Las Águilas though they failed to take the chances presented to them . The Second Leg was a much tighter affair but neither side managed to trouble the scoreboard . Santos Laguna were CONCACAF Champions. América did get revenge for the defeat in the Clausura final to take the title 4-2 on agg.

Season Overview

I will leave North America now for pastures new unless of course the jobs at USA or Mexico become available following World Cup 2038 . Its been 9 years now since either were available . EDIT - Destination Milan

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners
2034    Toronto FC          USA             --
2035    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2036    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2037    Santos Laguna       Mexico          X
2038    Santos Laguna       Mexico         2nd      CONCACAF Champions League Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

5/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England , USA

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

2/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032 , Santos Laguna 2038

1/1 club world championship - Tottenham 2033

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

Literally 3 continues after the season finish, Napoli came knocking. I couldn't resist their 2x bigger wage budget and 8x bigger transfer budget.

I have a team capable of winning the league, but I got fuc*ed by FM so many times it's unreal. Just check the table, I got the best attack AND best defence in the league. Superior GD by a country mile. Still, no cigar.

I got knocked out of the cup in the first round, after not being able to score from 30 shots.

Similarly, Newcastle got me out of the Europa League in the 1st knock-out round.

A big disappointment of a season.

Season     Team            League               Position       Domestic Cup           Continental Cup           Notes 

2015       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   5th           4th rnd                       -                  took over 13 games to go, 7th place
2016       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   1st           5th rnd                       -   
2017       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     6th           1/4 finals                    -    
2018       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     7th           4th rnd                       -   
2019       Seoul           K League Classic     3rd           runners up                  WINNERS              joined after 19 games, 6th place       
2020       Seoul           K League Classic     1st           WINNERS                     WINNERS  
2020/21    Sundowns        South African PSL    3rd           KC semis, FA 1st rnd       in progress           joined after 13 games, 11th place 
2021/22    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC WINNERS, FA quarters     won ACC     
2022/23    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC semis, FA winners        WINNERS    
2023/24    Palermo         Serie A              4th           TIM Cup semis                 -                  joined after 11 games, 11th place  
2024/25    Napoli          Serie A              2nd           TIM Cup 1st rnd            EL 1st KO rnd                  

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2021       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2021       Ivory Coast      -  
2022       Ivory Coast    African Champions of Nations - winners, World Cup - second round   
2023       Ivory Coast    African Nations Cup - 4th place   

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul, Africa-Sundowns)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Did anyone else find it difficult getting a club job when they were manager of an international team only? Or maybe my reputation isn't high enough yet.

Did anyone else find it difficult getting a club job when they were manager of an international team only? Or maybe my reputation isn't high enough yet.

Yeah they kept asking how i could manage both a club and international - they don't like it with low rep

Yeah they kept asking how i could manage both a club and international - they don't like it with low rep

Thanks mclarke. That seems a familiar story with me. Will keep trying and maybe resign after the AFC Asian Cup 2019 which is in a few months to focus on club football.

Took a brutal fu*king season to take the title over!

Big part in that played me deciding to splash out my budget after I've examined Juventus' team more closely. They have some right monsters in there so I needed to step up. The most expensive signing certainly justified his price tag.

We got knocked out of the cup in a usual manner, completely demolishing the opposition but failed to score and then concede from their only shot. Another classic in Italian Cup quarterfinals.

As for the CL, reserves played well and advanced from the group consisting of Porto (2-1, 1-3), Schalke (3-4, 1-0) and Ajax (7-1, 3-1), only to be knocked out by Liverpool (2-2 i 1-3).

I'm staying for another season and focusing my first team on the cup and Champions League. The reserves will have to step up in a lot more league games.

Season     Team            League               Position       Domestic Cup           Continental Cup           Notes 

2015       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   5th           4th rnd                       -                  took over 13 games to go, 7th place
2016       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   1st           5th rnd                       -   
2017       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     6th           quarters                      -    
2018       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     7th           4th rnd                       -   
2019       Seoul           K League Classic     3rd           runners up                  WINNERS              joined after 19 games, 6th place       
2020       Seoul           K League Classic     1st           WINNERS                     WINNERS  
2020/21    Sundowns        South African PSL    3rd           KC semis, FA 1st rnd       in progress           joined after 13 games, 11th place 
2021/22    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC WINNERS, FA quarters     won ACC     
2022/23    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC semis, FA winners        WINNERS    
2023/24    Palermo         Serie A              4th           TIM Cup semis                 -                  joined after 11 games, 11th place  
2024/25    Napoli          Serie A              2nd           TIM Cup 1st rnd             EL 1st KO rnd      
2025/26    Napoli          Serie A              1st           TIM Cup quarters            CL 1st KO rnd             

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2021       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2021       Ivory Coast      -  
2022       Ivory Coast    African Champions of Nations - winners, World Cup - second round   
2023       Ivory Coast    African Nations Cup - 4th place   

Challenge Progress

Club

3/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns, Italy-Napoli)

2/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul, Africa-Sundowns)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Kaizer Chiefs End Of Season 2026/27

Review

I've done a Vike!!

After getting sacked by Seoul, then winning the ACON, I applied for a few jobs, then the Kaizer Chiefs job became available, I applied and was successful.

Took over with the club second in the league with seven games to go.

As anybody who has managed in South Africa will know that Kaizer Chiefs are pretty much the dominant force, although in my save, Orlando Pirates had won the league for the past five seasons.

Anyway, it was neck and neck between us and Ajax with us having to play each other - we won 5-1 and with two games to go put ourselves in pole position.

The last two matches were comfortable wins and we were Champions

So, of course.........the fans love me!!!

As for the African Champions League which again, some of you will know bizarrely runs over two seasons, I finished third in the group by one point so was eliminated, but obviosly as I'd clinched the league, I'll be in it again next year.

I'm only going to have one more crack at the African Champions League before I move on as I spent ages on FM15 in South Africa, so I'm finding it hard to keep motivated here!!

Internationally I'm unemployed. I resigned from Morocco after winning the ACON.

I've applied for the USA and Uruguay jobs but didn't get an interview and I'm annoyed with myself for missing out on the New Zealand job as it's only a couple of months until the AFC.

Season	Team		Country       	Pos	Notes          
15/16	Linfield	N. Ireland	6th	Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season
16/17	Cliftonville    N. Ireland	3rd	Took over in January, Euro Qualification
17/18	Cliftonville    N. Ireland	4th	League Cup Winners
18/19	Cliftonville   	N. Ireland	1st	Champions, Manager Of The Year
19/20	Shanggang	China	        1st     Champions, Cup Winners, Manager Of The Year     
20/21	Shanggang	China	        N/A     Resigned after being knocked out of Champs League
20/21	Jeonbuk		S. Korea	4th	Cup Winners, Knocked Out 2nd Round Champs League
21/22	Jeonbuk		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked4th in league, QF of Champs League, SF of FA Cup
22/23	Pohang		S. Korea	6th	Cup Winners, knocked out in SF of Asian Champs League
23/24	Pohang		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked after first match of the new season!!
24/25	Seoul		S. Korea	3rd	Took over with 14 games played, qualified for Champs League
25/26	Seoul		S. Korea	N/A	Sacked - Team finished 2nd & won FA Cup
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S. Africa	1st	Champions




International
2026	Camaroon	Africa		Resigned after 2 matches
2026	Morocco		Africa		Eliminated in Group Stage at World Cup, qualified for ACON
2027	Morocco		Africa		ACON Winners - resigned straight after

Challenge Progress

Club

3/10 top domestic leagues (N. Ireland, China, S. Africa)

3/10 domestic cups (N. Ireland, China, S. Korea)

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship ()

International

1/5 continental tournaments (ACON – Morocco)

0/2 world tournaments ()

threelions1goal, well done in South Africa! If you get nine top domestic league titles, then go back to South Korea one more time! Hope you get more wins with the Chiefs!

Vikeologist's 2017 Jamaica and Dalian Report

Jamaica’s 2017 Gold Cup Report

I thought that we stood an outsidechance in the tournament. USA’s main team were in the Confederations Cup, sothe favourites for the tournament were Mexico, who did indeed win. We handledthe group stage fine, but came unstuck in the quarter-finals against Canadawhere we lost 1-0. Honestly it was so long ago, I don’t remember much about it,other than the inevitable sacking at the end of the tournament. I haven’t got asenior international role since, and have taken over China U23 in time for forthe 2018 Asian Games.

Dalian

I've completed my first full season with Dalian (finished 6th, but a long way from the top 2 automatic and only promotion slots). China division 1 is a bit boring after managing in Italy which has so many promotion and relegation slots, including the playouts and playoffs, that very often you're in both a promotion and rlegation race until very near the end of the season.

Dalian has by far the smallest attendances in the league, so depsite having almost the lowest wages, we would still lose a lot of money were it not for selling off our wantaway family foreign jewels. They didn't exactly play well anyway, but I can't find anyone of similar standard who wants to play for us to replace the 3 foreigners we're allowed. I have bought some more foreigners; a promising African striker, a North Korean central defender who's so small he was in constant danger of being trod on by his fellow defender. I'm probably about to sign a 31 year old midfielder, unless i find someone better in the next couple of days. I reckon I've had something like 200 laowais (foreigners) on trial, so if the manager thing doesn't work out i ight have a shot at being Head of Police.

I am tempted to leave, and have applied unsuccessfully for a couple of jobs, but it will be interesting to see if I can pull something out of the hat here.

Season Team     Position Notes          Challenge Landmarks


15/16 Sweden U21    2nd   In a Euro U21 qualifying spot when I left   
2016 Dalian Transcendence    14th  Avoided club relegation on final day of season 
2017 Dalian Transcendence    6th  Mid-table snozze-fest


Season Team     Position Notes          Challenge Landmarks


15/16 Sweden U21    2nd   In a Euro U21 qualifying spot when I left   
2016 Jamaica     n/a  Qualified for World Cup Qualifiers Round 5
2017 Jamaica       Knocked out of Gold Cup in Q/F and sacked 

Challenge Progress


Club
0/10 top domestic leagues 
0/10 domestic cups 
0/5 club continental championships 
0/1 club world championship


International
0/5 continental tournaments 
0/2 world tournaments 

3L1G - I think for a vike to be considered to have been done, one should take over a team a maximum of 1 competitive match before a major final. All this going from 2nd to 1st place smacks of competence and earned sucess to me. Not acceptable! Hope you're successful in the next Champions League.

shirajzl - Congrats on the Serie A title. GL with the cup and CL.

ap - Taking an international job at the start of my career actually made it more difficult / impossible to get a decent starting club job. I don't think it's reputation. Sometimes it's difficult to get a club job when you're an international manager at all stages of this challenge.

kwman - Good luck at Milan. You're really motoring now. Pretty much half way there.

mc87 - Welcome to the leaderboard. Look forward to seeing where you go next.

lfc7 - An impressive start with the Dons

ap - Taking an international job at the start of my career actually made it more difficult / impossible to get a decent starting club job. I don't think it's reputation. Sometimes it's difficult to get a club job when you're an international manager at all stages of this challenge.

Thanks vike. Have resigned from Uzbekistan after an uninspiring Asian Cup campaign which left me bottom of the table on 0 points. Back to the job hunt!

Well things are progressing fairly well since my last update. I have played two more seasons. After the least update I managed to win the Malaysia cup at the end of the season. I continued at Johor and the start of the season brought about my second ACON campaign with Senegal. Which thanks to a phenomenal Sadio Mane and Balde Keita was a successful one, beating Ivory Coast 2-1 in the semi before beating Algeria 2-0 in the final. So onto the Malaysian season, that started with a Charity Shield win over Selangor. I won the league fairly easily, however a disappointing performance in both cup competitions. Also a Quarter Final exit in the Asian Confederations Cup. So this season added a couple more ticks to the achievements list.

I moved on at the end of my contract and was waiting quite a while for a job. Prior to the start of the next English season there were quite a few vacancies, which I applied for most of. I had interviews at a few clubs and was offered the Coventry and Reading jobs which I delayed making a decision to see what else came my way. Premier League Wolves came knocking which I decided was the best opportunity with a healthy transfer budget and plenty of room for improvement. I had a fairly mixed first season but fortunately got the better of most of the sides near the bottom and ended up with a respectable 14th place finish. The star of the season was my new £8m Venezuelan striker who bagged 17 in 34 league games. Had a few issues at the back so will look to tighten the defence before next season.

After leaving Senegal after my ACON win, there hasn't been an appealing international job so will just bide my time until something I fancy comes along. Ill carry on with Wolves for the time being and try and work my way up to some offers from bigger clubs.

Season  Club            NAT  Division   1st      2nd    1st  2nd       Notes and Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16 Aberystwyth     WAL  Premier     8th             SF   SF       Took over after 14 games in 10th. Won 10 of 18. Resigned.
2016/17 FC Cape Town    RSA  First      13th             2R            Took over after 16 games in 15th. Finished 13th.
2017/18 FC Cape Town    RSA  First       4th             1R            Missed out on playoffs on goals scored.
2018/19 FC Cape Town    RSA  First       1st             1R            Promotion.
2019/20 FC Cape Town    RSA  Premier     9th             QF   1R       Left at end of contract.
2020/21 No Job
2022    Johor DT        MAS  Super       2nd             W    W        3 points off top.
2023    Johor DT        MAS  Super       1st             QF   SF       Charity Shield Winners. Asian Conf Cup QF.
2024/25 Wolves          ENG  Premier     14th            5R   3R

Year   Nation       Tournament         Result      Notes and Achievements
2020   Senegal      CHAN               3rd
2021   Senegal      ACON               4th         Qualified for World Cup
2022   Senegal      CHAN               QF
2022   Senegal      World Cup          2R          Knocked out AET
2023   Senegal      ACON               W

Internazionale Milano 2039

Following my time in Mexico i took the Inter job knowing they had the bulk of the side who beat me in the Champions League Final a few years back though needed to bring a few of the younger members of the squad through. The main sides over the past few years had been AC Milan and Juventus . A few weeks after my appointment both jobs became available following the World Cup and the changes at the top lead to their downfall . Afinkeev at Juve lasted a mere 5 months before been sacked as they were never even in with a shout for the title . They did though manage to bring home the Coppa Italia and Super Copa . Unchallenged Inter won the league at a canter. Coppa Italia was ended by Juve in the semi's . There was only the Europa League for Inter this season and it was seen as a youth project really , eventually going out in the quarters to old side FCP. Will see what comes up over the summer to see if I will stay at Inter for a crack the Champions League or head elsewhere.

Internationally i am going through a regeneration project with Spain , who had a dismal world cup and well the European International League wasn't exactly great . Drawn against World Champions Germany who had beaten Uruguay , yes they are still up with the Worlds Elite in the final and the Czech Rep . 2 wins , 2 defeats to maintain DIV1 status but nothing to write up about. Qualification for Euro 2040 will be getting rid of the old guard and starting afresh though i dont have any hopes of dethroning Germany any time soon

Season Overview

Season     Team             Country     Position    Notes          
2015    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden        12th      
2016    Varbergs BoIS       Sweden         4th   
2017    Sandnes Ulf         Norway          --
2018    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         2nd      Promoted
2019    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         8th
2020    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2021    Sandnes Ulf         Norway         3rd
2022    MK Dons             England       16th
2023    MK Dons             England        8th
2024    Ipswich Town        England        1st      Promoted
2025    Ipswich Town        England        6th
2026    Red Bull Salzburg   Austria        1st      Bundesliga and OFB-Cup Winners
2027    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2028    Vitória Guimarães   Portugal       5th
2029    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2030    FC Porto            Portugal       1st      Liga NOS and Taça da Liga Winners
2031    Atlético Madrid     Spain          3rd
2031    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro and Copa do Brasil Winners
2032    São Paulo           Brazil         1st      Campeonato Brasileiro , Copa do Brasil and Copa Libertadores Winners
2033    Tottenham           England        1st      Premier League , FA Cup and World Club Winnners
2034    Toronto FC          USA             --
2035    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2036    Toronto FC          USA            1st      MLS Cup Winners
2037    Santos Laguna       Mexico          X
2038    Santos Laguna       Mexico         2nd      CONCACAF Champions League Winners
2039    Internazionale      Italy          1st      Serie A Winners

Challenge Progress

Club

6/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England , USA , Italy

4/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil , England

2/5 club continental championships - São Paulo 2032 , Santos Laguna 2038

1/1 club world championship - Tottenham 2033

International

3/5 continental tournaments - ACON Senegal 2025 - AFC Australia 2027 - COPA Uruguay 2031

2/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030 - CONFED Uruguay 2033

Internationally, I've made absolutely no progress whatsoever. I resigned as manager of Cameroon after winning the ACON, and haven't been able to get another job so far. Frustrating, as I was turned down by everyone after the Euros. Fingers crossed my improved reputation will help me get back into international management soon enough.

Domestically, I was only interested in the ACL, as I'd already won the league and cup last season, and wasn't remotely bothered about going out of the cup early. I made sure that I kept my first choice 11 as fit as possible for the ACL games, yet somehow remained in the top two in the league all season long. We went into the last game of the season two points clear of Guangzhou, and with a better head-to-head record. However, the pressure got to us, and we collapsed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Shenhua. Thankfully, Changchun managed to grab a 3-3 draw against Guangzhou, and we retained our title. Its especially pleasing considering the amount of rotation I had this season.

The ACL was obviously the aim for the season, and a group of Perth Glory, Giurare Yokohama and Seoul gave me confidence that I might make the knockout stages. 2 points from the first three games, including a 5-3 drubbing at home to Perth, was an horrific start. We scrapped out successive 1-0 wins against Seoul and Guirare Yokohama in games 4 and 5, which left us needing to go to Perth and win to qualify for the last 16. Up stepped Yin Congyao, who smashed in 4 goals in a 5-3 win (ironic considering the defeat earlier on in the season) and we were in the knockout stages.

The last 16 saw us take on Jeju, and after a boring 0-0 draw at home in the first leg, we battled hard in the second leg and grabbed a deserved 2-1 win goals coming from Babel and Congyao. We faced another Korean team in the quarter finals, as Jeonbuk awaited. They were top of the league, and playing well, but so were we. Another 0-0 draw at home in the first leg set up an interesting second leg. We raced into a 3-1 lead, Liu Binbin with a brace and Congyao with the other. Jeonbuk fought back, levelling the game up in the 89th minute. Five minutes of stoppage time, with them battering us, but we held firm, and went through on away goals. The semi finals saw us paired with Sydney, reigning ACL champions. We travelled to Australia for the first leg, and the referee took centre stage, awarding us two penalties as we brought back a precious 3-2 lead to China. We took an early lead in the second leg, before Sydney levelled it up at 1-1. The onslaught continued, but they couldn't find a way past an inspired Yeerzati again, and we were in the final.

The final saw us play Al-Hilal, who had been fired there by Jackson Martinez, a man who had turned me down in the summer. However, it was his strike partner, Imoh Ezekiel, who tore us apart in the first leg, scoring all 5 as we lost 5-3 away. However, the away goals meant that I always felt we had a chance in the second leg, until I saw that five of my first choice 11 had been called up for international duty. Its the second leg of the Champions League final, what the hell? Not impressed. Babel was out injured as well, so I put out a makeshift side, more in hope than expectation. Gao Lin, in what was looking like being his last game before retirement, put us ahead after 4 minutes, and when Wei Shihao netted just before the hour, I was in dreamland. However, I was then in catch 22. As it stood, we were going to win the trophy on away goals. The problem was, we hadn't kept a clean sheet in any competition since the 0-0 first leg in the quarter final. I decided to keep my tactics as they were until the last ten minutes, and then I battened down the hatches and went ultra defensive. All the bodies behind the ball worked, and we held out. Champions League champions! Really, that is completely mental, as I only won 3 group games, and 3 knockout games to lift the trophy. Its almost as if my side took inspiration from the 2004 Greek team in deciding that draws could be enough to get the job done!

This meant we were to compete in the Club World Championship, and our quarter final was against Kaizer Chiefs. Now, this was personal, as I'd applied for their vacancy earlier on in the season, only to be turned down after being interviewed. Goals from Binbin and Congyao made sure I got my revenge, and we faced Boca in the semis. Ultimately, the Argentinians were too good for us, beating us 3-2, before going on to beat Arsenal 1-0 in the final. We played Toronto in the third placed playoff, and we blew them away. 4-0 up just after half time, we took our foot off the gas a little, eventually running out 4-2 winners to finish a respectable third.

So, club-wise, that's me done in Asia, much sooner than I expected to be. Looking back, I got very lucky in getting the Jiangsu job so quickly into my career. They were set up for a title run from the off, and with a few sensible additions I knew I could have a good go in the ACL. I actually thought I'd end up having to go to the mental nation that is South Korea to win it, which didn't fill me with joy after reading many of the experiences of you lot out there, so I'm pleased I wont need to now.

I'm about to leave Jiangsu, with my reputation at 60%, and studying for my Continental A Licence. I'm definitely moving up in the world. Now I need to decide where I'm going to go next. There aren't many jobs about that interest me hugely, but the vacancy at struggling Aberdeen might tempt me, mainly because they're in the semi finals of the League Cup, so that might be a way to grab another trophy fairly easily. If I do, I'll stay until the end of the season (I'm currently in December 2020) and then reassess my options.

Club
Season        Team             Position      Notes and Achievements
2015/16      Dungannon     10th          Won Northern Irish FA Cup and kept Dungannon up after taking over with 3 games to go
2016/17      Dungannon     8th            A solid but unspectacular season
2017/18      Yiteng            8th            A settling season in China
2019           Jiangsu          1st            Won Chinese Super League and FA Cup, as well as claiming MOTY.
2020           Jiangsu          1st            Won Chinese Super League and Asian Champions League

Season        Team              Notes and Achievements
2016/17      Congo              Resigned without playing a game
2016/17      Cameroon        One win away from WC qualification
2017/18      Cameroon        2nd round of 2018 World Cup
2019           Cameroon        African Cup of Nations winner!

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues - China (Jiangsu)

2/10 domestic cups - Northern Ireland (Dungannon), China (Jiangsu)

1/5 club continental championships - ACL (Jiangsu)

0/1 club world championship

International

1/5 continental tournaments - ACON Cameroon 2019

0/2 world tournaments

We destroyed the league once again and defended the title easily. Nobody had done that to Juventus in my save since Inter in 2010!

However, they took their revenge where it mattered to me, in the cup. We conceded in injury time of semifinals and that were our cup hopes gone.

In the CL we faced Real M. (1-3, 2-2), Lyon (4-2, 0-1) and Viktoria Plzen (3-0, 4-2) and scraped through by having better results against Lyon. We were rewarded with Barcelona in the 1st knockout round. Despite my careful squad rotation, we missed four key players to injuries in games versus Barca. 3-3 at home and 1-2 loss away and goodbye CL. Infuriatingly, we conceded both goals in the second leg after indirect freekicks and their attacker alone in the box for some reason.

I'll be leaving Napoli because I'm bored with Italy. The cup remains a black mark, though.

The light of the season was international stage. Cameroon approached me a month before WC in 2026. After a good start and a win over Poland 2-0, we lost to Serbia 0-1 and Brazil 1-3.

However, the year of 2027 brought me what I wanted all along; African Nations Cup!

Season     Team            League               Position       Domestic Cup           Continental Cup           Notes 

2015       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   5th           4th rnd                       -                  took over 13 games to go, 7th place
2016       Goyang Hi FC    K League Challenge   1st           5th rnd                       -   
2017       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     6th           quarters                      -    
2018       Goyang Hi FC    K League Classic     7th           4th rnd                       -   
2019       Seoul           K League Classic     3rd           runners up                  WINNERS              joined after 19 games, 6th place       
2020       Seoul           K League Classic     1st           WINNERS                     WINNERS  
2020/21    Sundowns        South African PSL    3rd           KC semis, FA 1st rnd       in progress           joined after 13 games, 11th place 
2021/22    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC WINNERS, FA quarters     won ACC     
2022/23    Sundowns        South African PSL    1st           KC semis, FA winners        WINNERS    
2023/24    Palermo         Serie A              4th           semis                         -                  joined after 11 games, 11th place  
2024/25    Napoli          Serie A              2nd           1st rnd                   EL 1st KO rnd      
2025/26    Napoli          Serie A              1st           quarters                  CL 1st KO rnd   
2026/27    Napoli          Serie A              1st           semis                     CL 1st KO rnd          

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2021       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2021       Ivory Coast      -  
2022       Ivory Coast    African Champions of Nations - winners, World Cup - second round   
2023       Ivory Coast    African Nations Cup - 4th place  
2026       Cameroon       World Cup - group stage
2027       Cameroon       African Nations Cup - WINNERS

Challenge Progress

Club

3/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns, Italy-Napoli)

2/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul, South Africa-Sundowns)

2/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul, Africa-Sundowns)

0/1 club world championship

International

1/5 continental tournaments (Africa-Cameroon)

0/2 world tournaments

Slask Wroclow Season Review 2019/20

League Table - 5th (minor spoilers!)

The Ekstraklasa is an interesting league, after each team has played each other twice (30 games) the table is split into a Championship group and a Relegation group, each team has their points total split in half and we all play another 7 games to fight it out for the title, I thought it was a pretty neat setup, basically everyone still has something to play for in the last game. First season with Slask was a strange one, despite thinking I had a big budget we realy didn't, I was forced to sell off 14 players just to balance out the wage budget and with a bank balance deep in the red we once again had to rely on loanees to see us through.

I was pretty happy at the end of the regulation season, we finished up in 4th, always well behind the likes of Legia and Lech who were forking out £1m on players, our plucky group of loanees and bang average players managed to take 4 points of Lech at the close of the season so I was marginally happy about that. Our Championship group stage was a lot different, winning only 2 of our 7 games and losing 4 others we fell right away from the European Qualification spots, finishing in a rather poor 5th position.

Slask aren't good enough to win the league with Lech and Legia throwing money around, so it was a stoke of luck when the Legia boss was sacked after finishing 4th, I applied and got the job within a week, jackpot

2015/16            FC Haka                    3rd            Finnish First Division
2016/17            FC Haka                    1st            Finnish First Division                Promoted to Premier League
2017/18            FC Haka                    1st            Finnish Premier League                League Winners
2018/19            Gornik Leczna              1st            Polish First Division                 Promoted to Ekstraklasa
2019/20            Slask Wroclaw              5th            Polish Ekstraklasa

Challenge Progress


Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (Finland)
0/10 domestic cups
0/5 club continental championships
0/1 club world championship


International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments