The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

Alright lads been a while since i've posted an update on the forums i normally just post the full image up, but as there is a few and everyone seems to have the image behind a word wondering how you do that ? honestly cannot remember haha thanks

My 6th Season

My 7th Season

So champions was never on the table but I didn't expect relegation to be such a clear prospect. The jump between the two divisions was immense, again I started/ended well but in the middle that was hell. I have quite a small squad that definitely doesn't help, the board will need to offer more funds if were ever to breach the gulf. Everytime I had 3 injuries I knew holding a draw would be a challenge.

I have survived a board take-over, renewed my contract until 2027. Applied for jobs in Columbian First division but getting no love. Guess I need to work on what I have now, maybe coaching badges will help me acceptability over there.

Bright side is I got myself an International job at Paraquay and im working on my first coaching badge (about time right lol).

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

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

@lfc7 its (url="web address")Text(/url) using square brackets for the links

Unbelievable Jeff!!

Went into the start of the season, things were a little frayed between me and the board already, my first match was in the Asian Champions League Group Stage.

Lost 1-0...........and they sacked me.

I quickly applied for the vacant Seoul job but was too late with my application.

Since then I've applied for various jobs in various countries, such as Peterborough and Liverpool in England - Peterborough's interview I didn't match their philosophies.

Applied for a couple of Italian teams, Korean teams, Ukraine, Sweden....I've also been approached by Gwangju, Seoul E-Land and Gyeongnam but didn't fancy those clubs.

So, I'll keep plugging along - incidentally in reference to lfc7 my reputation has gone from "decent" to "useful" and from 40% to 35%, I'm guessing this is due to another sacking

Onwards and upwards.........

Season	 Team 	 	Country	Position	Notes          
15/16	Linfield	N. Ireland	6th		Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season
16/17	Cliftonville	N. Ieland	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		Sacked, 4th in the league, QF of Champions 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!!	

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 ()

Hi guys. Been following this thread for a while and have decided to give it a go myself. I personally have had enjoyable international management experiences in past FMs and am looking forward to a challenge that includes both club and international management. I have loaded all leagues from Chile, Australia, South Africa and England down to league 2.

Profile 1

Profile 2

Belated congratulations to everyone who has completed this by the way - incredible achievement.

threelions1goal - It's shocking in Korea, isn't it? I dread starting a new season because even after winning the CL my board was like "hm, yeah, that was alright, but you're still sh*t"

mclarke1987 - Strange that you got to manage Paraguay and yet can't find a better job in South America club-wise. You must be close to it, though, and managing a nation can only help.

threelions1goal, my suggestion is to coach another Korean team to make it a good run here! So, is there a possibility of a match between your new team and Pohang?

I'm currently top of the league by 5 points, halfway through the season in the South African First Division. A lot of my better players are on loan so will be gone come the end of the season. I'm curious as to how much easier it would be to get a job elsewhere if I do get promoted. And whether I would be better off leaving at the end of my contract and trying to move onto a bigger club or sticking with FC Cape Town and giving it a go in the Premier.

I am beginning to hate this club, manage to come 3rd in first part of the season (and win playoffs and chile cup) yet second half of the season and im 1 win in 8games with 4draws. I swear a taste of success and the team collapse, literally had 1 loss & 1draw in the 16games prior

You guys are not making me want to manage in South Korea any time soon! That's definite managerial pressure out there!

@TommyTusker - Stay put and apply for jobs at the same time. After leaving Dungannon, it took me almost 8 months (and countless interviews!) to get a new job.

@mclarke1987 - Stick in there. You'll find form again, and start moving in the right direction.

@apchivers - Have you landed your first job yet?

I'll do an update at some point. I haven't played much since being away at the weekend, but that should change over the next few days. Thankfully, I've kept hold of my Cameroon job after being knocked out of the CHAN in the group stages, and I've eventually got a new club job. Onwards!

@numero uno gunner - I managed to get a job in January 2016 as the below update describes. Looking forward to seeing where your new job is.​

Nublense 2015/16 report

Club Deportivo Ñublense S.A.D.P were the first team to take a chance on a 20 year old Englishman. They were bottom of the closing stage in the First Division B after 3 games having finished 7th in the opening stage. The board set no real expectations and told me "not to be outclassed". We started badly with 3 losses in the first 3 games where I tried to find a tactic that worked, but ended up with a reasonable(ish) record of P12 W4 D3 L5. This meant that we finished 13th in the closing stage and 11th overall.

Central midfielder Octavio Pozo was named as fans player of the year, but for me it was his partner Tomas Lanzini who was solid in the centre, making lots of interceptions and recycling the ball well. Sadly, neither player will be with us next year as they refused to enter negotiations with us and were snapped up by teams in the Argentine and Mexican top divisions.

Similarly, top goal scorer Sebastian Varas didn't sign a new contract and is off to join Octavio Pozo in the Argentine top division. Also, my first choice centre back Washington Torres and second choice striker were both loan signings so will no longer be with us next season. However, both are out of contract at the end of the year and I may consider signing them depending who else is available.

I expect to be busy in the close season trying to find players to fill the gaps of those departing. Also, the squad is short in quality on the wings (which led to me playing a 5-3-2 of sorts for most of my games in charge) so I will try and address this.

I also have been offered the role of U23 manager for the Australia national team ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio. I am in a group with USA, Sweden and Brazil so will see how it goes!

Season     Team        Position    Notes and Achievements
2015/16    Nublense    11th        Took over with 12 games to go

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

numero uno gunner - That probably sounds like the best option. Was just thinking that having to pay compensation might deter clubs from offering me a job. Anyway, should probably concentrate on making sure I get promoted first!

My 8th Season

Finally i'm off the bat and i've ticked up a part of the challenge, Chile Cup Winners! It's taken a long time to get the ball rolling but im ok with that, I figure once I conquer South/North america, Europe should be pretty quick. I prefer the idea of the long hard road hence this minor accomplishment being a huge thing for me today lol

We had a season to remember, we didnt win the league but hell we gave it a shot. Finishing third in the opening stage was great, we got off to a slow start and racked up a few losses but after some minor tactical tweaks we turned a corner, instead of a draw being the goal of a game I was able to look for the 3pts which is obviously a positive sign. Managed to make our way through the opening stage play-offs.

Second part of the season was as before, getting my butt kicked no matter what I did. Ended up moving alot of sub-standard players to my under19's so I didnt put them on the pitch by accident. This has resolved some issues but leaves me with a few k in wages sat in under19's lol.

I'm working on my Coaching B license which I should get during the off-season. I've (whilst typing this) just been given a new 2year contract. I estimate about 1-2mil in transfer budget required to strengthen the squad enough to take 1st. Maybe a little less if I shuffle around my international players. Oh well wish me luck, maybe I can get a domestic league title to add to me achievement before I hit the season 10.

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

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

Challenge
Domestic Cup 1/10 - Chile Cup

Vikeologist's 2015-16 Start of Challenge Report

I’m back.

I was doing the youth challenge, and was in about season 12, but it had been a long time since I had been having any fun.

Then I tried a save using the EEE expanded English database, which was going well, but it has revealed some crash problems with the game, and if and when SI fix it, it won’t be save game compatible.

So, as I suggested I might earlier in this thread, I decided to try to do the challenge faster. That’s sort of gone off the rails already, but I am having a lot of fun, so I’m going to continue, and probably stay on pace to do the challenge even slower.

My first mistake, though I didn’t know this, was to take the job of Sweden U21 team manager more or less straight away. I thought it would make it easier to get a club job, but it seems to have had the opposite effect. I wasn’t even shortlisted for jobs in the English 1st division and Chinese Superleague; leagues that up to now it’s been possible to get first jobs in eventually.

However I was enjoying the U21 qualifying campaign, so I carried on.

Then the Jamaica job became available. I’ve never forgiven Jamaica for forcing my Mexico side to squeeze past them in a Gold Cup quarter-final in my completed ultimate career. They’re a side that others have won the Gold Cup with. They were in a mess and in real danger of not making it to the final group stage of World Cup qualifiers, but we won the two games with me in charge and made it through. Qualifying for the World Cup will be tough, with USA and Mexico prohibitive favourites for 2 of the 3 automatic slots. The frustrating thing with Jamaica is the number of young dual nationality players who are foolishly holding on to the hope of a call up to the England squad.

Shortly after obtaining the Jamaica job, I finally got a club job; at Dalian Chaoyue, I’m going to call them by their English name Dalian Transcendence, although I’ll actually just call them Dalian, ignoring the bigger club based in the city. I live in Dalian, so it was nice to take them over, even though they were 2nd from bottom in the Chinese 1st (2nd level) division, and in all kinds of financial problems.

We were only 2 points from safety behind Shenzhen. How difficult could it be to catch up? Well pretty difficult actually. We gained 11 points from our next 5 games and were playing really well. This put us 4 points above the relegation zone. We merely needed to win one of our last 2 games. We were thrashed by Shenzhen in the penultimate game. Never mind, our last game was at home to the team rock bottom of the league, and already relegated. Unfortunately, they thrashed us as well. Watching the league table through the game was nerve-wracking, worrying that Zhejiang Yiteng (one of many clubs to spurn my application) would grab a last minute goal in their fixture and send us down. Their match ended 0-0 though, and we were safe.

There’s a lot of work to do, and no money to do it with. Fortunately a new chairman is coming in, and he can’t be worse than the outgoing one who drove the club to the brink of bankruptcy.

I might even go and watch Transcendence platy in real life next weekend, if I can figure out where on earth their ground is. It would be nice to see how my players perform in the flesh.

Season Team     Position Notes          Challenge Landmarks


15/16 Sweden U21    2nd   In a Euro U21 qualifying spot when I left   
16/17 Dalian Transcendence / Jamaica   14th  Qualified for World Cup Qualifiers Round 5 
       Avoided club relegation on final day of season 










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 

Great to see you back in the game vike

Good luck and have fun!

and

Season review 2017/2018 - Yiteng and Cameroon

So, after months of being out of a club job, I headed east for three interviews in the space of a week, all at Chinese clubs. First up was Jiangxi Liansheng, 200-1 outsiders for the Chinese National First Division. I had decided on the way out there that I was going to take a different approach to the interviews this time, and it was successful, with Jiangxi Liansheng offering me the job. I chose to delay for a week, as I was hoping one of the other two clubs, Henan Jianye and Zhejiang Yiteng would come in for me. Henan Jiyane decided that I wasn't the man for the job, and kindly said thanks but no thanks. The day before I was due to accept the Jiangxi Liansheng job, Zhejiang Yiteng came in for me, and so my Chinese adventure began!

After looking at the squad, I was hoping to push for a top half finish. A solid pre-seasons raised hopes, but we were brought crashing down to earth with three defeats on the spin at the start of the campaign, and only 1 point from the first 5 games. We regrouped, and a few new signings helped to steady the ship. In fact, we went on to win 9 and draw 2 of the next 12, including back-to-back wins against the top two, to put us firmly in the top half, and only 5 points off promotion with 13 games to go. And then we had a wobble, three defeats on the spin followed by 17 points from the last 10 games meant we had to settle for an 8th place finish.

My three wingers, Li Xin, Wu Xu and Ji Xiaoxuan all had spells where they were completely unplayable, but the stand-out star of the season was 18 year old loanee striker Han Baojun from Dalian Chaoyue. 22 goals in 29 games tells its own story, and I've seen that he's out of contract shortly. I'm going to move heaven and earth to bring him in.

I'm thinking that with a few changes, my Yiteng squad could challenge for promotion next season. My defence needs sorting, and my second signing (hopefully after Han Baojun) will be a goalkeeper, because I'm fed up of my current one and his inability to hold onto the ball when someone shoots at him. Incidentally, I sold a 17 year old keeper with shocking stats for £1m at the end of the last transfer window. I've got about £3m in the transfer kitty, but will use it wisely.

That said, if a better job comes along, I could easily find myself heading for pastures new. I've now got my National C licence, and I'm studying for my National B licence as we speak. My reputation has hit 30%, but I think that might be because of what happened at the World Cup...

So, the World Cup draw was not kind to us in any way, shape or form. Our current ranking of 43 meant we ended up as the lowest ranked team in the group, with 6th placed Spain, 10th placed Portugal and 32nd placed Honduras joining us in Group C. I went into the group hoping for a victory against Honduras and aiming to finish third, with the outside hope of perhaps grabbing a draw against the Portuguese. First up were Portugal, and Alexandre Mandjang put us ahead in the 2nd minute. From then on, Carlos Kameni was magnificent for an hour, but Ruben Neves hit us on a counter attack, and the opening game of the group ended 1-1. Spain thrashed Honduras 4-0, and Portugal beat Honduras by the same 4-0 scoreline in their second game. In my second game against the highly fancied Spanish, we again took a shock lead, Leandre Tawamba striking against the run of play. We held out until half time, but Isco and Alvaro Morata scored before the hour, and Spain looked to turn the screw. We held out, and in the 77th minute a Joel Matip header from a corner levelled it up. We held on, and 2 unlikely points were in the bag. A win against Honduras would put us through, providing the Iberian nations didn't screw me over with a high-scoring draw. I realised that a 4-0 win would probably put me through, and we were 3-0 up inside the first 20 minutes. However, the Hondurans pulled one back, before we scored a 40th on the 70th minute Vincent Aboubakar grabbed his hat trick goal. In the other game, Spain had raced into a 2-0 lead, but Portugal had pulled one back. A nervy last 20 minutes ensued, knowing that a goal for the Portuguese would put me out if I didn't score again. A stoppage time goal from Leonard Kweuke calmed my nerves, and Spain held out, meaning we went through as runners up. A massive achievement, and the only African nation to make the knockout stages.

We were paired against France, and they battered us for 90 minutes. Yet, somehow, we managed to go in at half time 1-1, without having had a shot on target, thanks to an Aymeric Laporte own goal cancelling out Anthony Martial's opener. Karim Benzema put the French ahead just after half time, but Leandre Tawamba equalised a minute later with our first shot on target. We held out until the 90th minute, when our hearts were cruelly broken by Anthony Martial. As we flooded forward trying to get an equaliser, Karim Benzema hit us on the break. No complaints, and we departed back to Africa in good spirits after going further than anyone expected us to.

2019 sees Cameroon host the African Cup of Nations, and I'm hopeful we can go on and do the nation proud again. Fingers crossed, we'll land the trophy and I can begin ticking off some international achievements!

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

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

2018/19 Season

Promoted as champions. Basically got on top early on in the season and stayed there all the way through, finishing top by 6 points. I was hoping to move on but having applied for a number of jobs in South Korea and China, I'm yet to get an interview so looks like I'll be at Cape Town a while yet. Hopefully promotion will bring the finances to send me on a coaching course or two.

                                          Leagues        Cups
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.

Big expectations and even bigger delivery. We stormed every competition. I could even afford to play reserves in the last 5-6 league games. In CL alone we had a goal difference of 34-10 in 14 games.

It wasn't much of a feat, to be honest, since Seoul are the richest club in Korea. It was just a matter of balancing the squad a bit (bought 5 players) and keep attacking everyone.

Competitions

League Table

I forgot to mention in the last update that we got the 3rd place in FIFA CWC, and we are to play in it again, although I doubt we'll win it. That will have to wait for South American or European team most likely.

That's it as far as Asia is concerned, except for the national Asian trophy, which will wait a bit because...

...I got hired by Nigeria! Morocco was the other team in contention, but I chose the former. We played through the African Champions of Nations, which doesn't count for this challenge, by getting knocked-out by Egypt in the quarterfinals. Other than that, we qualified for the real thing, African Cup of Nations, with ease.

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                           

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul)

1/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul)

1/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

My 9th Season

I wish I could say going forward things went well, and in some respects they did but lower league position than last year. A slump at the end equates to more than I lost by. I haven't updated my International stats cos the Qualification will run through into next season so I'll include it then.

I'm losing a few of my best players during the off-season so fingers crossed someone else will hire me since im due to get my new coaching license. I need a new club cos this one is infuriating me lol (Short update sorry)

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! 

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

Challenge
Domestic Cup 1/10 - Chile Cup

Alright lads thanks mclarke1987 for info on how to do link behind txt finally do an update now. Been busy with work and travelled down to Bournemouth sunday to watch the mighty reds win then was at Anfield to watch easiest derby win ever yesterday so haven't had much time for FM

Hiding in international

After my frustration with the club I decided to back away and focus on internationals, I had qualified for the World Cup which was a feat in itself, when I found out I was in a tough group I had all but given up but fortunately we squeeked through before getting hammered in the 2nd round. I decided to resign after that as my "Reputation" hit an alltime high of 45% lol

I have expanded the number of leagues in the game to include Wales/Ireland/China/Australia and the North American continent but have been offered a job managing VIT in the Brazilian First Division. I've got over 5mil in a transfer budget and 25k excess in wages to spend. Will be a fun job rebuilding here as they have funds to do something about it unlike the last club (or division) where my entire transfer budget was the worst player on the top team.

The board insist I am to avoid relegation but my plan is to recover and hit mid-table this season then push on to take the league within 2years. Thats what im giving this club 3 years! No more, time to push on with the challenge and smash through some of these objectives.

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              18th when I joined 12games in.

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
Domestic Cup 1/10 - Chile Cup

(side note im off work for 2days but got 6weeks of uni to do so i may be slow on next updates)

Having resigned from Seoul, I went job hunting. My reputation is now "fairly good" so I was fairly picky (pardon me). After Toulouse and Mainz rejected me, I lowered the bar a bit and applied to Sundowns in South Africa and got the job!

Of course, Kaizer Chiefs are absolute rulers of (South) African football and it's going to be a massive task trying to dethrone them. However, Sundowns are a decent club when it comes to reputation and money so it's not as if I'm starting from the bottom again.

Table when I took over

Table at the end of the season

Domestic cups were, plan and simple, a disaster. Other than that, I'm participating in African Confederations Cup, which is their Europa League equivalent. Anyway, this competition, as well as their CL btw, span over one and a half season so you play some of the group stage games (if you get that far) in the middle of pre-season. Thoroughly annoying.

As far as international management goes...Well, bollocks. I got a nice team at Nigeria, but our African Nations Cup run was a disaster. We did manage to get to quarterfinals, but it was a sneaky Greek way with 3 draws. After that we lost to Egypt, later to be crowned champions.

I resigned before getting the sack and decided to try again, this time with Ivory Coast who offered me a job among other African nations. Right now we're in the middle of a WC qualifiers and things are going well.

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                

Season     Nation            Competitions

2020       Nigeria        African Champions of Nations - quarterfinals
2020       Nigeria        African Nations Cup - quarterfinals
2020       Ivory Coast        

Challenge Progress

Club

1/10 top domestic leagues (Korea-Seoul)

1/10 domestic cups (Korea-Seoul)

1/5 club continental championships (Asia-Seoul)

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments

0/2 world tournaments

Finally doing an update seems every time i went to do one something came up ha anyway........

So started challenge holidayed until 12th of April when i took over at cliftonville, they only had 3 games to play and were a point behind in the League anyway i ended up Winning the league by 2 points, but with me only being manager for 3 games wouldn't count anyway would it ?

On to season 2 few frees in and out then onto Champions League qualifiers v M.Tel-Aviv, didn't expect to get anywhere but a great win at Home followed by draw Away seen me through. I then faced Red Star but couldn't get any further so and went out 4-1 on Agg

Into the Europa League qualifiers were i faced Club Brugge, but unfortunately i also went out although only just losing 4-3 on Agg no Europe for me. I ended up winning the Co.Antrim Shield although that doesn't count towards challenge as you know.

So never won any of the other two cups but won the League also won Manager Of The year i then decided to wait till june let my contract run out and go elsewhere. When my contract ended i was on a month to month contract so ended up resigning, although due to doing well in qualifiers earlier in that season i had brought almost 700k into the club, when i left the finances were still very healthy.

I applied for various jobs including some internationals, but got rejected till along came the Aberdeen Job in October. Aberdeen were Second Bottom so looking on staying here for at least duration of contract.

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                                                                                            

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

lfc7 a Win's A Win

pug 407 Haha i won it following season anyway but take that on board for future reference

After being sacked by Pohang, I'd had enough of South Korea, so applied for a few jobs, had a couple of interviews, but no luck.......then the Seoul job became available and I couldn't resist!!

When I took over the club had been knocked out of the Champions League (by the Pohang team I built!!) and were also out of the cup, so I could concentrate on the league.

For all the season, it was a three horse race between ourselves, Pohang and Jeonbuk (who also contained the signings and staff I'd recruited!!)

The final position of third has given me something to build on for next season and hopefully I'll be given a chance to complete the season with my board being more patient than the knee-jerk reactions I suffered at Pohang and Jeonbuk........although I'm not all that hopeful if their confidence is only "content"!!

I've also just started international management in this challenge, taking up the Cameroon job just ahead of the CHAN - I'm not that fussed with the tournament though as it doesn't count towards the challenge.

So, lets see how long I can last at Seoul.........

Season   Team           Country       Position           Notes          
15/16   Linfield        N. Ireland      6th             Took over in December, sacked before the end of the season
16/17   Cliftonville    N. Ieland       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         Sacked, 4th in the league, QF of Champions 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 team knocked out of C/L & Cup, Qualified for C/L

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 ()

Good luck, from my experience, Seoul should be extremely easy on all fronts.

threelions1goal good luck with Seoul

Good luck, from my experience, Seoul should be extremely easy on all fronts.

Really? From my experience Seoul was like a ultra-demanding girlfriend who's never happy, no matter what you give her, and then crushes your heart like a merciless witch. Bridget!!!!!!!

Anyhoo....

So much to comment on.

3L1G - Good luck in the Champions league with Seoul. So which of your ex-teams won the league? Basically you made the top 3 teams what they are. Also good luck with Cameroon. It seems as this challenge has go on people have got into international management earler and earlier. You're a bit of a late starter, but I'm sure you'll catch up. Did you manage any international teams on your attempt last year?

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.

shirajzl- yes the schedule of the continental competitions in africa is soooo annoying. Anyway, congratulations on your success with Seoul. there's not many people do this challenge without getting sacked in Korea. I was sacked a lot and in many places around the world. for a while Normandy Wept and I were neck and neck on the Vikeologist Sacking Challenge (trademarked).

mclarke- I hope that you're building up a good reputation in s America, and can get a job at a top club soon, or guide VIT to the title. But sincei'm not sure who VIT are, I can't really assess your chances. Your challenge tally shows only 1 domestic cup, but surely you won the Malaysian league as well.

Tommy T - Good luck at cape Town. Look fiorward to hearing how you're doing in the top division.

n1G - Good luck in the ACON. I think you chose wisely in China. liansheng finished rock bottom of the table in my new challenge save. I already have baojun of course, so I might give him more playing time next season 9when i re-start the challenge after a 1-season wonder challenge diversion).

Reading all these updates makes me keen to get back on the challenge. I've just been sidetracked by a shiny new thing.

Really? From my experience Seoul was like a ultra-demanding girlfriend who's never happy, no matter what you give her, and then crushes your heart like a merciless witch. Bridget!!!!!!!

Sure, but at the same time you do have VAST resources to win everything on player quality alone. You don't have a right for too many missteps, true.

Australia U23 2016 Olympics update

For Australia U23 I tried using a similar tactic to the one I was using for my club side Nublense. The result was goals - lots of goals. I was drawn alongside Brazil, Sweden and USA in my Olympics Group. The first match was frustrating, as I threw away a 3-1 lead against Sweden to draw 3-3 with the last Sweden goals coming in 76th and 87th minutes. The second match was against a strong Brazil team, consisting of Alex Sandro, Gabriel Barbosa and Neymar to name a few. They were too strong for me and were 3-0 up soon after half term. Two late goals made the scoreline closer than it should have been.

I needed a win in the last game against USA and for Brazil to get a result against Sweden in order to qualify for the next round. Things started well with Stefan Mauk scoring after 28 minutes to put us 1-0 up. This started a goal fest and in the remaining 17 minutes of the half USA went 3-1 up, but Christopher Oikonomidis pulled one back to make it 3-2 at half time. Unfortunately, we didn't turn up in the second half and ended up losing 5-2 to finish with an overall record of 1 point from 3 games, scoring 7 and conceding 11! I was relieved of my duties straight after the match as "there were no competitive fixtures to come" - but I think I would have been asked to leave even if there were some fixtures to come!

On the club front, I had a clear out of players in the transfer window and bought in some loan signings to bolster the squad. I have been knocked out of the Chile cup in the group stage with the "highlight" being an away 0-0 draw and a narrow 2-1 home defeat to First Division sides. I beat fellow First Division B side Deportes Antofagasta 2-0 in the away tie, but lost by the same scoreline at home as I rested my first choice team for a league fixture 3 days later due to not being able to qualify for the next round of the cup.

Good to see you are trying to complete this challenge again vike. Congratulations to all who have won trophies / gained promotion since my last update. Enjoying reading updates from everyone.

Newcastle United: 2022/23 Season

We started this season as we finished the last winning our first eight games, including a 3-1 win over Arsenal in the Community Shield and a 3-2 win over Manchester United in the European Super Cup.

Our first defeat of the season came against Manchester United in the League Cup 3rd round loosing 2-0 ending our defence of the trophy at the first hurdle.

Our good start and form resumed straight that defeat as we relentlessly steamrollered through the league leading from the front all season to claim our Premier League crown.

Our only defeats in the league came after we'd secured the title disappointingly denying us an "invincible" campaign.

The FA Cup was as straightforward as the league campaign with our most difficult tie coming against Manchester United in the 6th round.

A 1-1 draw at St. James Park followed by a 0-0 at Old Trafford and the tie being decided 7-6 on penalties with our goalkeeper the shoot out hero, making the crucial save and then scoring the decisive penalty.

The FA Cup final against Chelsea was won 4-2 and was a comfortable win despite Chelsea taking the lead early on.

The Champions League saw us progress as group winners from a group containing Juventus, Atlético and Litex.

The first knockout round saw us pick up our second defeat of the season against RB Leipzig as we lost the first leg in Germany 2-1. The second leg saw us overcome the deficit with a 5-0 win to go through 6-2 on aggregate.

The Quarter final drew us against last seasons Premier League champions, Arsenal. A comfortable 3-0 home win in the first leg followed by a 1-1 draw away to go through 4-1 on aggregate.

The semi-final pitted us against another English team in Manchester City. The home tie was a feast of football for the neutral in a 3-3 draw.

With three away goals to contend with my only thought going into the second leg was to win and make the away goals meaningless. A 5-1 demolition of Man City at the City of Manchester Stadium saw us win 8-4 on aggregate and set up our first Champions League final against Real Madrid.

The Champions League Final hosted at Old Trafford was in a similar vein to the FA Cup final quite comfortable as we ran out 4-1 winners.

The only thing left for us challenge wise with Newcastle is the Club World Cup so I'll be sticking around for next season but then might start casting my eye out for other opportunities.

Challenge Progress:

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (GRE, ENG)

2/10 domestic cups (GRE, ENG)

1/5 club continental championships (ECL)

0/1 club world championship ()

International

1/5 continental tournaments (ACN - Algeria)

0/2 world tournaments

Seasons:

CLUB CAREER
						Leagues		Cups
Season	NAT	Club			Division	1st	2nd	1st	2nd		Cont.		CWC	Other & Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16	GRE	Panaigialeios		B division	8th		n/a						Last 9 games
2016/17	GRE	Panaigialeios		B division	1st		round 2						Promoted
2017/18	GRE	Panaigialeios		Superleague	5th		round 2						3rd in Euro playoff 
2018/19	GRE	Panaigialeios		Superleague	1st		Winners						League and Cup winners
2020/21	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		5th		round 3	round 2					qualified for Europa league
2021/22	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		3rd		Won	Won					Europa League & Domestic Cup winners
2022/23	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		1st		Won	round 3		Won			Won Euro Super Cup




INTERNATIONAL CAREER
		Rank		Cups
Year	Nation		FIFA	NL	World	Cont.	Conf.	Other & Notes
2023	Algeria		15th			Won		Up 17 in FIFA rank


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This season was particularity hard to endure to be honest given the league was practically over at Christmas with no further Copa del Rey action either . Yes there was the Champions League though there was never a realistic chance of actually winning it. FC Bayern did end my dreams in that one in the Quarter Finals winning both fixtures. Atlético's current squad is a little past their sell by date and as the season went on , results started to waiver. Finishing 23 points behind city rivals Real and following a poor run of form Limpar mutually terminated his contract at the Vicente Calderon . A reign lasting just 324 days , his shortest to date . In a short interview following the annoucement he stated his desire to take a break from the pressures of European football with an eye to returning in the future years.

2031 also brought a second bite of the cherry for World champions Uruguay at the Copa America aiming to go better than their semi final appearance 4 years ago . Entering the competition as the World leading side they were seen as favourites to add the Copa to their collection and cement their names in history. Wins over Chile and Ecuador allowed both Argentina and Uruguay to line out weakened sides and play out a meaningless 0-0 draw to progress.

Paraguay were up next as USA and Mexico recorded penalty shoot-out wins over Argentina and Colombia respectively . Brazil hammered hosts Bolivia in the other quarter final.

A 2-0 win over Brazil saw Uruguay into the final in what was to be my 50th game in charge of Uruguay . Uruguay dominated possession against the Mexicans and comfortably lifted the title without conceding a single goal

Paris Saint Germain striker Federico Cardaccio won the Golden Boot and Young Player of the Tournament with the 22 year old scoring 7 in 5 games

Copa 2031

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

Challenge Progress

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues - Austria , Portugal

2/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

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

1/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030

After I Resigned From Spain And Real. Got To Take Over At Brazil.

Then I Noticed Kaizer Chiefs Job Was Going, So Now I'm Manager Of South Africa's Top Club

So Started With A Great Looking Squad, With A Few Position's Needed Strengthened. Up First Was The Champions League. But I Was In For A Shock Only 4 Players

Was Registered. So No Cup For Me, Thinking It Was Going To Take A Season In South Africa. In All Won All In The Domestic League.

So On To Brazil A Few Friendly's Which Were Won. Then The World Cup In A Group With Turkey/Algeria And Australia. 3 Win's Scoring 10 And Letting Only 1 In. On To TheNext Round With A 2-1 Win Against Croatia. Next Was A 4-1 Q-Final Win Against Ghana. The S-Final Was A Easy 3-0 Win Against France. The Final Was Up Against MexicoAnd A Nice 3-1 Win.

It's Nice To See Some Winning Some Trophy's Good Luck.

                                                                      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

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                  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

  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)
2/5  Continental Cups    (Europe-North American)
1/1  Club World Cup      (Newcastle-England)

International
-------------
1/5  Continental Tournaments (Euro's-Spain)
2/2  World Tournaments       (World Cup-Spain/Confed-Spain)

I won the malaysian premier league but they have a super league above it so it wasnt top division unfortunately.

I'm working on it with vit, I improved on the position but not massively on finishing up the first season with them, second season (my first full season) I qualified for copa, im at the start of my third with them now hoping for title but copa as focus.

mclarke1987, I hope you made it better in Brazil with better improvements. So, if you have a chance to go back to Columbia, will you manage Tolima Real again or go back to Malaysia and play for the Super League or finish Brazil first?

2016 Caribbean Championship Report

I won my first piece of silverware, beating Martinique in the final. Given that our opponants don't even have a world ranking, I was getting a bit concerned when it ook us till about the 72nd minute to breach their defences. Still, AWIAW, and now my reputation is up to a heady 10%, and I'm in the manager hall of fame with 10 whole points.

I was planning to stay with both Dalian and Jamaica, but maybe I will have an occasional glance at the job vacancies.

Pug - Congrats on your continued success. Soon you'll be top of our in-progress leaderboard. You have a real shot at the fastest completion, not that being the fastest is the point of everything. How did you only have 4 players registered? Is it a bug, or did someone sell all the registered players? Did you? Anyway, good luck. It will be really frustrating if you don't win it and have to hang around for a minimum year and a half after locking up everything domestically.

kwman - Congrats on the Copa America. Next I guess is the Confederations Cup.

blackdevil - Great work with Newcastle. Which nation or continent do you plan to head off to next? Do you plan to do all the rest of the big 5 Euro nations first?

apchivers - I wouldn't say I'm planning to complete the challenge again (this year). I just happen to be enjoying my save for the moment. However, if it looks as though i have a realistic shot at completing it quickly I may become more committed. For the moment I'll probably stick with Dalian for a while, unless I get an offer I can't refuse. Hope your Olympic experience makes you more employable, but based on my time with swden U21s, i don't think it works that way. I just thought it might because in my completed save I got the China job after managing the U23s in the Olympics.

No Vike That's All I Had When I took Over

Afternoon all, thought I'd give this a blast with my current saves going a bit stale.

Profile | Leagues

Will be holidaying for a while to get rid of the jobs at the start and hopefully a decent job will pop up somewhere!

Following my failure to do anything in my short tenure at Atlético and my desire to switch away from European Football , the Copa was perfect timing and various managerial changes created avenues . The Chilean , Argentinian and Brazilian jobs were available and soon a host of teams were requesting interviews . São Paulo , Estudiantes de La Plata and Atlético Mineiro to choose from . Ultimately São Paulo were seen as the quickest way to success sitting a point behind champions Internacional who had won the previous 3 Campeonatos . There was to be no Copa tho , they had lost to Racing weeks before my arrival thus requiring this to be at least an 18 month role.

With twelve games to go victory over Internacional saw the league leadership switch hands and one which never to relent . I only managed 21 of the 38 games but its a trophy in the bag . A penalty shootout was needed to beat Corinthians in the Copa do Brasil semi final to setup another battle with Internacional . A 0-0 draw in Porto Alegre was followed up with a 3-1 win to complete the double . Revenge for when i was manager of Vitória Guimarães , Internacional turned me down

Vike

Unsure about the Confeds , still managing Uruguay doubt there will be any movement in North America at the moment but Euro 32 is in a couple of months which could create something

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

Challenge Progress

Club

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

3/10 domestic cups - Austria , Portugal , Brazil

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

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

1/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030

Lots of trophies, but only two of them count; league and KO Cup. I was chasing cups as much as possible, but having won one, I'll ignore them in the next season.

The league was so tight, it all came down the last game of the season where I needed a point against Kaizer Chiefs! Can't be more dramatic than that!

I also won African Confederation Cup, which also doesn't count for the challenge. As the first SS shows, I'm out of it this time (remember the format of these comps is annoying, pouring over two seasons) because I wanted less congested fixtures for the following season.

As for Ivory Coast, I won CHAN, but again, it doesn't count. The more important is that we qualified for the WC and had a good campaign. In the opening game, we beat the hosts, Argentina 2-0! We continued amazingl form by beating USA 4-0, so in the last round against Belgium we only needed NOT to lose by more than 3 goals. We lost 0-2 as I was resting some players. In the second round, we got Italy who scored 5 mins in after a random penalty. We took control over the game, started dominating but no cigar. We went out, 0-1. Regardless, this is something to build on and I'm looking forward to African Nations Cup next year.

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                   

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   

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

Season 2022/23: Uruguay

I was appointed to the Uruguay post on the 5th March having resigned from the Algeria post on the 02/03/2023

The aim was to try and win the upcoming Copa America to add to the African Cup of Nations crown in one season...on top of my Newcastle pots and pans.

My first match in charge was a friendly against Saudi Arabia who I'd also faced early in my Algeria term. A 1-1 draw and an uninspiring performace had me thinking things weren't going to go to plan.

Due to my Newcastle season going into June I'd not put much thought into Uruguay's preperation and my next fixture was our first in the Copa America against Argentina.

They were clearly the better side and we were 1-0 after 5mins and 2-0 down after 20mins. We managed to rally and pull one back before the break and then grabbed an undeserved equaliser in the 88th min.

A topsy turvy game against Costa Rica B followed. Two down on the 60th min we battled back into the game to grab a 3-2 victory with an 80th min winner.

In our final group game we again went behind before going on to win 2-1 in a more sedate game than the previous two.

Our quarter final against Bolivia saw our best performance of the tournament with a comfortable 4-2 win. The pleasing aspect was the football was more like what I expect from my Newcastle side.

We came up against Argentina again in the semi final and again it finished 2-2 however this time we took the lead before they equalised. Extra time couldn't seperate us so it went to penalties which Argentina won 3-0.

Our final game of the Copa America was the 3rd place playoff against Colombia which we won 1-0.

Club

2/10 top domestic leagues (GRE, ENG)

2/10 domestic cups (GRE, ENG)

1/5 club continental championships (ECL)

0/1 club world championship ()

International

1/5 continental tournaments (ACN - Algeria)

0/2 world tournaments

Seasons:

CLUB CAREER
						Leagues		Cups
Season	NAT	Club			Division	1st	2nd	1st	2nd		Cont.		CWC	Other & Notes
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2015/16	GRE	Panaigialeios		B division	8th		n/a						Last 9 games
2016/17	GRE	Panaigialeios		B division	1st		round 2						Promoted
2017/18	GRE	Panaigialeios		Superleague	5th		round 2						3rd in Euro playoff 
2018/19	GRE	Panaigialeios		Superleague	1st		Winners						League and Cup winners
2020/21	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		5th		round 3	round 2					qualified for Europa league
2021/22	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		3rd		Won	Won					Europa League & Domestic Cup winners
2022/23	ENG	Newcastle United	EPL		1st		Won	round 3		Won			Won Euro Super Cup




INTERNATIONAL CAREER
		Rank		Cups
Year	Nation		FIFA	NL	World	Cont.	Conf.	Other & Notes
2023	Algeria		15th			Won		Up 17 in FIFA rank
2023	Uruguay		14th			3rd		3rd in Copa America


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vike - Not sure yet, I'm thinking of heading to South America but It'll depend what jobs become available. I'm staying until the Club World Cup as I should win that with the team I've got although I'm a little tempted to apply for the currently vacant Clube Atlético Mineiro job as that'd keep the theme of my club teams wearing black & white stripes lol.

edit: I've since resigned as manager of Uruguay and the following day taken over as manager of Brazil

Hoping to get my Copa with VIT first, maybe go back to TR for the Columbian one if its a possibility when I achieve my VIT goals, if not I'll push onto NA to continue the challenge. I will definitely include the Columbia division in my 10 though I have fallen for it, I may even try to get my WC with columbia if option comes up lol

10th Season

11th Season

12th Season

Ok so this has been my 3 seasons at VIT. Big progress one what they were achieving before I joined the club, I arrive there in 18th with a few games left, I've obtained back to back Copa Qualification - and a Copa Win! (checks of list). We almost won the CwC but goal in the dying minutes ended us.

In 22/23 my squad could have probably took the league but Brazil has a big preseason and I survived that but started the season with 6 first team players partially injured so results lagged, my fans were complaining 10games into the season, when injuries were gone through we were a force to be reckoned with. If GRE weren't storming there matches we could of took the league.

I could opt to stay on another season, the board wont sack me at this point but in the interest of the challenge im putting that behind me and time to move to a new continent now that Copa is secure. I intend to return to get my 10th top division with in Columbia because I've got kind of a lost love thing going with them but for now I'll look to push on, im thinking North America but depends what jobs are on go. I dont want to go through to Europe yet, maybe Africa tho. We shall see! Wish me luck

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

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
Domestic Cup 1/10 - Chile Cup
Champions Leagues - Copa Libertadores

Side note: Does the chilean super cup and/or canadian championship count as domestic cups - top tier teams can enter but u need to qualify not automatic like chile cup/brazilian cup etc

Side note: Does the chilean super cup and/or canadian championship count as domestic cups - top tier teams can enter but u need to qualify not automatic like chile cup/brazilian cup etc

The Canadian Cup doesn't count as not all of the MLS teams enter. If the Clilean super cup is between the league winners and the cup winners then no, that doesn't count either.

So many updates! I'm impressed with how quickly some of you get through your seasons. I'll post my own update later, as I've almost finished my season.

@Tommy Tusker - Well done on the promotion. Any luck getting on coaching courses? That was the one advantage of grabbing a job in China for me, as they've been happy to send me on them.

@shirajzl - An excellent season with Seoul! Fingers crossed you have some luck with Nigeria as well. Always good to get started on the international side, and African nations seem a popular starting point. Ha, just seen you've moved both club and nation. Good luck in Africa! Ok, I literally can't keep up with your updates - congratulations on your title win with Sundowns! I hope you can match that with Ivory Coast at the next African Cup of Nations.

@mclarke1987 - Congrats on the Copa win! Are you going to stay on and try and claim the league title next season?

@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.

@threelions1goal - I hope you manage to avenge your Pohang sacking by guiding Seoul to some silverware. The boards in South Korea seem absolutely mental. Cameroon are a good nation to manage from my experience. A solid squad to build some success with.

@apchivers - That sounds about as successful as my run at the Olympics with South Korea! How are you finding life in Chile's lower reaches?

@blackdevil - Fantastic progress with the geordies! I hope you manage to win the CWC before moving on to bigger and better things. Unlucky with your Uruguay team as well.

@kaiserwatman - You're smashing through the international aspects at the moment. When did you get the Uruguay job? I haven't seen a job come up at a South American nation for a couple of years now.

@pug 407 - Well done on your success in South Africa. Brazil is a pretty handy job to have landed internationally as well!

@vikeologist - Glad to see you're giving this another go. How are you finding Dalian? Have you given Han Baojan a go yet?

Apologies if I've missed anyone. I'm really enjoying reading your updates guys. Its giving me the energy to keep going with my save as well.

I've been on a fm binge all day I went to america for a season but was too quick squad to strong so pretty much just continue, continue, continue through the season. Holding of an update though will do 2-3season updates to span them out a bit save spamming the forums lol Currently managing in Europe cos i couldn't find a decent mexican team (roma)

@kaiserwatman - You're smashing through the international aspects at the moment. When did you get the Uruguay job? I haven't seen a job come up at a South American nation for a couple of years now.

Feb 2027 , its now Jan 2033 - 64 Internationals about 2 years now ranked as World No 1 . Planning to leave after the Confederations Cup in June

As per usual the State championships kicked off the new season and well it was pretty easy demolishing lower sides all the way to the final to get my heels clipped by Corinthians who won the first leg at my ground 3-2 . I did manage get back on level par winning the second leg 1-0 before losing on penalties much to the annoyance of the suits upstairs who moaned for a bit about the defeat. That was not the reason i stayed in São Paulo though , only the Copa Libertadores was deemed a prize in my eyes following domestic success in the previous season .

The group stages were pretty much a joke as Liga de Quito , Cerro Porteño and León were steam rolled by a rampant São Paulo side . The second round then drew me up against one of the few sides who give me a spot of bother , Atlético Mineiro and defeat (2-1) in Belo Horizonte left me needing to pull something out of the bag . A scrappy 1-0 victory sent me though on away goals . Argentinian Champions Vélez Sarsfield were next up , lead by a striker i signed for Vitória Guimarães a few years back though things never quite worked out there . In truth i was quite lucky to get out of Argentina with a 1-1 draw before winning 3-1 in the second leg . River Plate was actually an easier tie and 2-1 victories in both legs

The final - Chivas - It went as bad as it can get in the opening leg , a red card for Bolivian International Centre Back Alvarez early doors left me battling against a spirited Mexican side . 2 late goals gave them victory and the dream was probably over . Striker Diego Bostal pulled one back after 36 mins in the second leg before i was caught on the break and Chivas restored their 2 goal advantage. Centre Half Andre headed in to make it 2-1 on the night . In the 94th minute he once again directed a header into the Mexican net . At this point i was convinced i had lost on the away goals as i had previously gone through via it in an earlier round . Extra Time - What !! With both teams exhausted and nothing left on the bench it was a pretty dire spectacle and it was left to penalties to decide fate . São Paulo won 4-3

Copa Libertadores

Domestic Season was won at a canter . So that left the Club World Cup and well it was Manchester City and lets just say it wasn't pretty . I got hammered in the final

Fast approaching my 900th game in charge though it will not be in Brazil . Uruguay are still going well in terms of qualification for the World Cup , sent a pretty experienced side to the Olympics but was beaten twice by the French and had to settle for Bronze

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

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

1/2 world tournaments - WC Uruguay 2030

African Cup of Nations 2019

After a positive display in the World Cup, we headed into the ACON in high spirits, and as the host nation. We were put in a group with Angola, Guinea and South Africa. Injuries robbed us of a couple of our key men, most notably star striker Vincent Aboubakar in the run up to the tournament, but I still felt we had enough to make light work of the group.

A 2-1 win over Angola in the opening game, with a goal apiece for Joel and Karl Toko Ekambi, a late replacement for Aboubakar, got us off to a good start. However, a shock 1-0 defeat to Guinea put us in an awkward position going into the last match with South Africa. What I was expecting to be a game to decide who topped the group instead became one on who was going through. A point would be enough for us, and so the onus was on them. Kermit Erasmus put the South Africans in front, but Joel equalised a minute later. The game was pretty end to end for a while, before Nicolas Nkoulou stupidly picked up a second yellow card. However, our defence withstood the barrage that followed, and we edged through in second place, setting up a quarter final with Egypt. Leonard Kweuke put us one up just after the break, before he missed a penalty on the 75th minute. Thankfully, it didn't prove decisive, and we were through to the last four, without hitting our best form. Senegal awaited in the semis, and we didn't get off to the greatest of starts, with Sadio Mane putting the Senegalese in front. We hit back four minutes later, with Joel again getting on the score sheet. It stayed like that until extra time, when Senegal had Kara sent off. We made the most of the extra man at a set piece, as commanding centre back Joel Matip powered in a header and put us through to the final against DR Congo. Youssouf Mulumbu put DR Congo ahead after 20 minutes, but Leonard Kweuke levelled things up before the hour. The final became a tight, tense affair of few chances, until substitute Karl Toko Ekambi grabbed his opportunity to become a hero, firing in the winner and sealing my first piece of international silverware!

Domestically, despite feeling that I had a good set up at Yiteng, I couldn't resist the lure of moving to a top flight club when the job at Jiangsu came up. After finishing a disappointing fifth last season, there was some work to do if I was going to achieve the board's minimum expectation of winning the title. The squad wasn't too bad, but lacked depth. With £13m in the transfer fund, I delved into the market. Ren Hang, Zhou Yun, Zhao Honglue and Li Chao came in for a combined £3.1m, before I splashed out £6.25m on Yin Congyao. In response, the board tried to sell Zhang Yuning over my head, but I stamped my feet and they relented. Majed Hazazi came in as my Asian foreigner to provide some stability in defence, before Ryan Babel became my last transfer on a free, and he was phenomenal. He got 20 goals and 14 assists on his way to being named as the league's player of the year.

The league saw us, Beijing and Guangzhou battling it out for the title, with all three sides having a spell at the top at one point or another. We faced Beijing with 8 games to go, having fallen 4 points behind Guangzhou and 3 behind Beijing. We battled to a 1-1 draw, knowing defeat would probably put an end to our title hopes. From that point on, we didn't look back. 6 wins on the bounce took us to the brink of the title, needing a solitary point in the final game of the season to secure my first league title. However, defeat for us and a win for Beijing would cruelly snatch the title away from us, as they had won our other fixture this season, 3-2, with a stoppage time goal. Thankfully, I needn't have worried, as we smashed Yifang 5-0 in front of over 30,000 adoring fans. A fantastic end to our league campaign.

However, that wasn't the end of our season, as we had reached the final of the FA Cup as well, courtesy of a 6-3 aggregate smashing of Guangzhou in the semi final. We took on Shandong in the final, obviously over two legs. After a comfortable 3-1 win at home, Alex Teixeira being the star man. We sealed our second trophy of the season with a safe 1-1 draw in the second leg, and then celebrated long into the night. I also claimed the Manager of the Year award after my double winning season, so it was nice to be recognised for our achievements.

So what does the future hold? Well, I'm looking forward to having my first crack at continental football next season. My squad is going to need a greater depth if I'm to be successful, so my transfer window could be a big one, particularly when you consider Ramires, Sammir and Teixeira are all out of contract at some point in the next six months. Ramires and Sammir have refused new contracts, and I'm about to try to get Teixeira tied down to a new one. I've got about £6m in the transfer kitty, so I'm going to have to spend it wisely, and see if there are any good free transfers about.

Internationally, I'm looking for a new challenge. The Euros are in the summer, so I'm hoping that might open up a few opportunities for me. My reputation is up to 45%, and I'm racing through my coaching badges, currently undertaking my Continental C Licence.

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.

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)

0/5 club continental championships

0/1 club world championship

International

1/5 continental tournaments - ACON Cameroon 2019

0/2 world tournaments

I'm new at this challenge, but it's great to see this thread so lively! Keep it up, people.