Razer82's FM10 Small Club to Big Club Americas Challenge

The Aim

To take a previously unplayable team from the lower leagues of a nation from the Americas to their domestic title, the Copa Libertadores or NACL and then onto the Club World Cup! These do not have to be won in the same season.

The Club World Cup has been added to the challenge in order to bring the USA in as a playable nation. A game with just winning the NACL could be over rather quickly with a side from the MLS so an extra degree of difficulty has been added for longevity.

The Setup

Leagues that can be used:- Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, USA

Reputations of Leagues eligible for this challenge

Argentina 15

Brazil 15

Chile 11

Colombia 12

Mexico 14

Peru 8

Uruguay 12

USA

Getting Started

Load all the available division within the nation you select (Only one nation is allowed)

A Large database should be selected (Although you are free to use other database sizes if you wish to)

Attribute Masking should be enabled.

You can load all players from the nation that you have selected to manage in and also select the option to load players from the Top Clubs in the continent but NO other additional players from any nation should be loaded.

The extra levels of detail that you can change while in the game are up to you, as they shouldn’t make any difference.

Add yourself as an unemployed Manager, the details of which are unimportant.

Then go on holiday until the new seasons teams are generated, see below for actual dates, and select one of the newly promoted teams.

League Reset Dates

Argentina 1st July

Brazil 3rd January

Chile 1st January

Colombia 10th January

Mexico 20th July

Peru 28th January

Uruguay 31st July

USA 27th December

Brazilian Fixture Issue - For all those thinking about starting in Brazil, please note that there is an issue with fixtures in 2010 causing a pile up of 5 matches in 5 days to occur. In order to avoid this it's advisable to holiday through 2 seasons to 2011 before selecting a team.

These reset dates have been taken from profiles loaded for the previous version of this challenge, so may not be 100% accurate, if you find that one is not correct, please let me know and I'll update the list.

Then retire your original manager profile.

Add a new manager with the experience set to ‘Sunday League Footballer’, or if that is not available then ‘Automatic’.

Take over one of the clubs newly promoted into the lowest division within your selected nation. If you are unsure about which clubs have been promoted then check the clubs’ history of league positions, it should be blank.

It is now up to you to manage the club to their domestic title, the Copa Libertadores or NACL and then onto the Club World Cup.

You are not permitted to move between clubs unless you are sacked; If you are sacked, you can either take over at another club the meet the original challenge criteria or just quit the current save and start again.

Any form of international management is not allowed until the challenge has been completed.

There are no restrictions on assigning feeder / parent clubs.

Scouting Guidelines

You can only sign players that you are able to scout or trial at the club first, so in short the player must have the 'Get scout report' button on his profile screen. The one exception to this is when you ask a current squad member to recommend a new signing, It is then ok to sign him as the player who recommended him knows of him anyway.

No external utilities should be used and the database should be un-edited. Should SI release a data update, this would be allowed. It is advised that people should update using the latest patches as they are released.

Created Leagues

With the addition of the Competition Editor it will be inevitable that new leagues will be created that will qualify for this challenge but I will not be adding these new nations to the challenge. Only the leagues that come with the retail version of FM10 will be eligible.

Rules for this Thread

Player naming is allowed. (This is a warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Discussion on tactics is allowed. (This is another warning for those of you who do not wish to see this)

Screenshots for anything are encouraged.

When you join the challenge, could you post a screenshot of your manager's profile on the date you take control at your new club.

Progress of your club should be documented using this thread. We want to hear the story of your club all the way through (success and failure), so please keep us updated, even if you are doing really badly.

At the end of every season, could everyone post some kind of season review, including the minimum of a screenshot of the league table. If you give this a title in bold it makes it a bit easier for others to pick out.

How to Post a Screenshot

1. While in FM, press the 'Prt Sc' button (usually next to F12 on your keyboard).

2. Open an image editing program such as Paint and paste the image

3. Save the file as a JPEG

4. Upload the image to an image hosting website such as Photobucket or Imageshack

5. Post the direct Url to the image here.

Good luck to everyone taking part this year.

Great to this up again.

I'll be having a crack once I've got a good career game underway.

I noticed you are not allowing players from other nations to be loaded but what about the new feature to load the players from 'top clubs' in each continent? It could allow for more competition in the continental cups.

Great to this up again.

I'll be having a crack once I've got a good career game underway.

I noticed you are not allowing players from other nations to be loaded but what about the new feature to load the players from 'top clubs' in each continent? It could allow for more competition in the continental cups.

We can add that in. Anything to add more competition to the game.

I'll edit the opening post to include that.

MLS! :cool:

Reloading till TFC comes last...

Can I load all Canadian and American players or only all Canadians?

MLS! :cool:

Reloading till TFC comes last...

Can I load all Canadian and American players or only all Canadians?

I don't see why not, seeing as you're planning on playing with the Canadian side.

I didn't choose TFC though...but I don't mind the team I picked.

The Colorado Rapids finished last in the 2009 season, so I'll be taking over them

And with better news, I also have Columbus's first round pick, which means I have the first two picks of the 2010 Superdraft!!!

Good luck Rancer, nice to see someone diving straight into MLS. I'm currently holidaying through in Argentina for my first game.

Can you let me have the league reset date to stick in the opening post.

Awesome to see this up! Will be getting the game next weekend hopefully and will head straight to Brazil! Good luck to everyone!

The MLS Cup Final is in late November. So holiday to December 1 would be fine, which is just before the MLS Superdraft Combine.

Colorado Rapids 2010 MLS Superdraft

1st Overall Pick - Jason Alvarez

2nd Overall Pick - Victor Sanchez

21st Overall Pick - Robert Barton

30th Overall Pick - Rogerio

31st Overall Pick - Andrew Lassonde

46th Overall Pick - Art Thompson

Overall, I pleased with the players I got in the draft.

I'll have to waive a few players though, I'm 5 players over the roster limit. I'll make my decision after pre-season.

I'm one third into the 2010 MLS Season with the Colorado Rapids. I have good news and bad news.

I'll start with the bad - Standings

Our back line is horrible.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel, as the board think that I'm untouchable.

Conor Casey is my leading scorer (with 3). Alvarez, Sanchez, and Rogerio are the only rookies having significant playing time. I'm trying to find a Designated Player, either at centre back or striker. I had Ami Zaki in my sights but he signed with another team...

Don't worry rancer - I'm sure it will all click in the league soon.

Do the MLS regulations (squad roster, drafts etc) & finances appear to be ok so far? I know that in previous versions the MLS needs a patch or two to start working properly. Just wanted to check before I deceide whether or not to include it in my career game. Thanks

After two hours of reloading and continually getting one of the same two sides promoted, I have decided upon :-

Talleres

Manager Profile

Even though I already have a squad to work with, there is no staff. A media prediction of 18th means we've got a hard season ahead of us.

Don't worry rancer - I'm sure it will all click in the league soon.

Do the MLS regulations (squad roster, drafts etc) & finances appear to be ok so far? I know that in previous versions the MLS needs a patch or two to start working properly. Just wanted to check before I deceide whether or not to include it in my career game. Thanks

They're better than before, and it's harder, which I like.

No good players getting waived, and I'm not losing $5 million a month like last year.

I wouldn't mind finishing last again to get the 1st overall pick and keep rebuilding the squad. I lack depth in some positions.

And good luck in Argentina Razer.

Good luck with Talleres Razer, I remember them playing in the now extinct Copa Mercosur over a decade ago, would be good if you could bring them back to that level again!

Tough start rancer, but like you said, finishing last this year might be good as long as the board aren't too fussed about it.

I'm now 20 games into the 2010 MLS season...we're progressing backwards.

Standings

I'm ready to just play the remaining games, trying to improve for next season, and hopefully get a top talent with the 1st pick in the MLS Superdraft.

Once the international transfer window opened again, I went a bit crazy with trying to improve my squad. The full list is here, with 10 new faces to the team. Among the notables include Costa Rican international Leonardo Gonzalez (5 games, 6.60 average rating), former Spurs striker Tomas Pekhart (5 games, 1G-1A, 6.72), former Hull player and Australian international Richard Garcia, and former Liverpool and Millwall defender Zak Whitbread.

In other MLS news, the New York Red Bulls signed Czech winger Tomas Rosicky as their Designated Player.

I'm looking forward to jump on this challenge when i have installed windows 7,

I will be managing in Brazil as usually, not sure what club yet.

rancer - wow, Tomas Rosicky going to the MLS is massive, how old is he?

rancer - wow, Tomas Rosicky going to the MLS is massive, how old is he?

He's only 29. JP Angel took a paycut, so they still have an extra DP slot to use to sign another player...

Very impressive!! He and NYRB are going to rip the league apart surely!

I'm looking forward to jump on this challenge when i have installed windows 7,

I will be managing in Brazil as usually, not sure what club yet.

Look forward to you joining us soon.

He's only 29. JP Angel took a paycut, so they still have an extra DP slot to use to sign another player...

Very impressive!! He and NYRB are going to rip the league apart surely!

With the 2 DP slots they should be a force in the league for a while. Can't see them trading one of them away.

Half way point in the season seems a good place to give an update.

Opening Stage

With our overall media prediction being 18th I was expecting a major struggle for the year, but the additional signings that were made gave a great boost to the side. Great early season form lead to my first award as manager of Talleres.

The great result for the Opening Stage should put us in a good position when the average points table gets used for relegation at the end of the season.

A great start Razer and an impressive defensive record too. Do you think you can maintain this form for the closing stage?

A great start Razer and an impressive defensive record too. Do you think you can maintain this form for the closing stage?

I certainly hope so.

Going to be starting in the MLS, want to be a team that also has a hockey team preferably so about a 50/50 split. Not managed in the MLS before so not sure what to expect.

Going to be starting in the MLS, want to be a team that also has a hockey team preferably so about a 50/50 split. Not managed in the MLS before so not sure what to expect.

Good luck in MLS mate. Nice to see someone else other than me trying out the league.

Going to be starting in the MLS, want to be a team that also has a hockey team preferably so about a 50/50 split. Not managed in the MLS before so not sure what to expect.

Good luck. Looking forward to hearing how you get on.

Say hello to the new manager of FC Dallas. Now just need to find a talesmanic striker to make number 66 .

Proof they finished last.

My first season with the Colorado Rapids is over.

Regular Season Standings

Playoff Table

Quite shocking that we only finished 5 points out of a playoff spot. We went 4wins-4draws-2losses in the final 10 games!!

If we just had this form earlier...

I might not post an update Monday, as I'm at uni all day. I'll have a lighter schedule on Tuesday.

Razer - What a brilliant start, I hope you can keep it up. What are the promotion rules in the division, I think they have changed from last year.

rancer - That was a very tight league, I bet you had mixed feelings about finishing above Toronto FC

MikelUFC - Good luck with Dallas

Watching everyone's progress is killing me, I really hope my game gets delivered this weekend!!

It reminded me of how crap the team is. Their squad looks worse than irl...and they hired Chris Cummins...

The 2009 MLS standings were a lot closer (IRL).There were 5 teams fighting for the final 2 spots with 1 game remaining. Who says battling for a playoff spot isn't exciting.

My first season with the Colorado Rapids is over.

Regular Season Standings

Playoff Table

Quite shocking that we only finished 5 points out of a playoff spot. We went 4wins-4draws-2losses in the final 10 games!!

If we just had this form earlier...

I might not post an update Monday, as I'm at uni all day. I'll have a lighter schedule on Tuesday.

Nice finish to the season rancer. Hopefully you'll be able to start the season with that sort of form. Another high draft pick should help though.

Razer - What a brilliant start, I hope you can keep it up. What are the promotion rules in the division, I think they have changed from last year.

Watching everyone's progress is killing me, I really hope my game gets delivered this weekend!!

It's looking like we can keep it up. Topping the Closing Stage after 8 games. I've got no idea how promotion is going to work - I'm sure it will be over complicated though.

Fingers crossed that you'll be joining us soon.

Has anyone started in Brazil?? I loaded the game to start in December 2009 and holidayed to January 2010 (seemed to be the easiest and quickest start) but all the teams have no 3rd division history when I check them. Plus I thought there were 4 divisions in Brazil from this year on but only as low as the 3rd can be selected at the start :confused::confused:

Has anyone started in Brazil?? I loaded the game to start in December 2009 and holidayed to January 2010 (seemed to be the easiest and quickest start) but all the teams have no 3rd division history when I check them. Plus I thought there were 4 divisions in Brazil from this year on but only as low as the 3rd can be selected at the start :confused::confused:

You need to holiday for more than 1 month! You have to go through the first season.

You're right about the extra division starting in 2009, according to Wikipedia anyway. There must be some reason SI didn't add it in.

You need to holiday for more than 1 month! You have to go through the first season.

You're right about the extra division starting in 2009, according to Wikipedia anyway. There must be some reason SI didn't add it in.

Damn...was hoping to skip the full season holiday:o...but I kicked it off about 20 mins ago anyway, new game with a start date of December 2008 and holidaying to 2010. Will post profile in a bit.

EDIT: And here we go. Introducing the new manager of União Rondonópolis who were last in the 3rd tier in 2004

Yes there are 4 tiers IRL but SI said they would not include any new leagues into the new version. But as there would need to be a lot of teams in the 3rd tier to have playable teams in all states the old format had to remain. The 3rd tier IRL is a bit annoying anyway as you can play as little as 8 games and a max of 16 so I am happy it wasn't introduced. And the bottom tier in FM has never been the same as IRL, so it's not too much of a difference. But they got rid of all the group stages and it's a knock out after the first group stage in FM 10.

Good luck with União Rondonópolis daemonic, they have a great name! I myself will probably go for Corintians (RN), had a short attempt with them on FM09 but couldn't get into the game back then, so am hoping for a longer stint in charge of the cheap imitation of Corinthians

Good luck in finding out how promotion works Razer!

Yes there are 4 tiers IRL but SI said they would not include any new leagues into the new version. But as there would need to be a lot of teams in the 3rd tier to have playable teams in all states the old format had to remain. The 3rd tier IRL is a bit annoying anyway as you can play as little as 8 games and a max of 16 so I am happy it wasn't introduced. And the bottom tier in FM has never been the same as IRL, so it's not too much of a difference. But they got rid of all the group stages and it's a knock out after the first group stage in FM 10.

Good luck with União Rondonópolis daemonic, they have a great name! I myself will probably go for Corintians (RN), had a short attempt with them on FM09 but couldn't get into the game back then, so am hoping for a longer stint in charge of the cheap imitation of Corinthians

Good luck in finding out how promotion works Razer!

Thanks corinthiano for the support and explanation No idea what the name means but I liked it. Seems a good club with a (shared) 16k stadium and a decent wage budget of 9k per week.

Best of luck with your attempt once it gets going.

2010 Season

MLS

Colorado Rapids

Media Prediction: 8th

Final Standings: 8th in Western Conference (13th Overall)

US Open Cup: lost in 1st Qualifying Round to Red Bull New York

Squad

Squad 1

Squad 2

I inherited a lot of the players from last year...and promptly waived/released them and got my own players. As you will see later, there was a lot of turnover to try and find a team that could win. I still have some holes, notably at goalkeeper, and will look to resolve that issue next year.

Transfers

Transfers

Lots of players going to the club, and lots leaving...

Many transfers were made in the summer months, as that was when contracts expired in Europe, and partly because I was desperate to improve my squad...

Key Transfers

• Leandro Benitez
  
• Manuel Viniegra
  
• Richard Garcia
  
• Tomas Pekhart
  
• Zak Whitbread
  

Future Transfers

Viniegra will join the club permanently for the 2011 season.

Key Player

ST - Conor Casey

The only one who I thought deserved a starting spot in every match of the season.

Finances

Finances

We got back into the black thanks to a cash injection by the owner...

Club Information

Affiliations

Overview

Stadium/Facilities

Future Goals

• We have the 2nd pick in each round of the MLS Superdraft. My goal is to take the BPA (Best Player Available) to improve my squad
  
• get some depth to push for competition. Healthy competition for first team spots will only help everyone improve
  
• Find a Designated Player. I have a bad feeling Casey might leave the club, so I would like to find a striker. I am also interested in a midfielder. Either way, I would want wages to be under $1 million/year.
  

Offseason Shopping List

• number #1 goalkeeper
  
• an Assitant Manager
  
• a midfielder
  

[font=Courier New]Season     Position (Overall)   Postseason           Competitons
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=4159326&postcount=37"]2010[/url]               [url="http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll131/rancer890/FM10%20MLS%20Challenge/2010Standings-1.jpg"]8th (13th)[/url]         None      US Cup 1st Round[/font]

Well I've decided to get in on this as well.

I went on holiday in MLS and have been doomed to FC Dallas. Why doomed do you say? The Super Hoops scored a league-low of 19 goals and conceded a second-most 41 goals and in 30 matches.

I plan a massive overhaul of the entire club. Hopefully I'll be around long enough at Pizza Hut Park (Yes you read that right) to see it through!

Good luck with FC Dallas Brixton Athletic.

If you're going to keep some players, make sure to definitely keep striker Peri Marosevic. I remember his name well...he scored 4 goals against my Colorado Rapids in a game.

Colorado Rapids 2011 MLS Superdraft

2nd Overall Pick - Estuardo Sanchez

17th Overall Pick - Steve Clarke

32nd Overall Pick - Omar Maluleke

47th Overall Pick - Ryan Carpenter

The draft didn't have as much depth as last year. Sanchez will give some depth at the striker position. My dark horse pick is Omar Maluleke. He lacks some football sense and a bit slow, but he has very good technical ability, and I like that he's a hard worker.

FC Dallas - MLS - 2010 Season Review

Media Prediction: 8th

Playoffs: Lost in Western Conference Finals

Final Standings

Final Statistics

Regular Season Summary

Well, well what a season it's been for the Super Hoops. After sitting second in the Western Conference and MLS at the halfway point, we proceeded to implode after three controversial mid-season signings (that or teams finally figured out my 90-minutes-of-hell-on-the-smallest-pitch-allowed tactic) and barely made the playoffs.

Playoff Summary

In short, it went from heart attack to heart failure.

WC Semi-final:

Matched up against in-state rival Houston Dynamo and managed a 3-1 win in the first leg. In the second league I blinked and found myself down 5-4 on aggregate after only 36 minutes, but we managed to trade goal after goal before "settling" for a 5-5 draw and 8-6 aggregate win.

WC Final:

Played fairly well against Real Salt Lake, but had to make two injury-related substitutions halfway through the first 45 minutes. David Dunn, my designated player, got turned upside-down in the 117 minute with that being the difference in a 1-0 defeat.

Notable Transfers

I kept with the plan and dismantled the abysmal team from the 2009 season and ended with just three players from the previous year's starting eleven. The same thing went for my Staff. I released everyone and went international, picking up a coach apiece from the national teams of England, Spain, Holland, France, and Brazil.

In:

Preseason

F Nikita Andreev - Almeria (Spain)

F Nicolas Medina - Osasuna (Spain)

CM Christian Portilla - Real Sporting (Spain)

AMC Sonny Guardarama - Morelia (Mexico)

AMC/MC Hamid Kavianpour - Steel Azin (Iran)

GK Chris Seitz - Free

Midseason

David Dunn (DP) - Blackburn (England)

Hernan Rengifo - Lech (Poland)

Santiago Silva - Velez Sarsfield (Argentina)

Out:

Almost everyone

Draft Summary

I had three first round picks this year, with two coming courtesy of transfer exchanges. The draft really isn't deep enough, so I decided after it was all over to trade my future non-first round picks for highly-rated youngsters. One of those would be Matthew Short, an American midfielder.

Round 1, Pick 1: Robbie Pirie, a tall Scottish defender who could immediately step into one of the two positions I didn't upgrade, centerback. Unfortunately, he refused to sign with me and instead spent the entire season with the amateur Dallas Tornados...how's that for localized misfortune?

Round 1, Pick 5: Stephen Manganello: Incredibly technical, but incredibly slow midfielder.

Round 1, Pick 14: Vladimir Kordic: Croatian centerback who I immediately packaged with future picks in a deal for recently-drafted Mexican left back Antonio Corona (mmm beer).

A Look Ahead

I qualified for the USA-Mexico Superliga competition, which should provide some much-needed income. I plan on dropping some of the older players and upgrade my center backs. I might alter my tactics a bit, so I appear to be less of Stoke and more...say...Burnley at home?

How much transfer budget did u get with FC dallas Brixton?

Brixton - Great turn around for you first season, so close to making the final! Good luck for next season hopefully you'll be able to go one step further.

Rancer - Maluleke & Carpenter are good picks, both can do well for you.

Will start this, but im also doing all the others but ill get a game going soon, unsure of what nation to choose right now aswell.

Might go with Peru, only because i think i can manage Deportivo Wanka pretty sure they arent a top division side (edit) they are too low down

So im going to go with Chile instead.

Draft over for FC Dallas and only had three picks!

Here are the future starts of the MLS

Steve Negrate (2nd overall)

David Hamilton (the first of what I hope to be many Canadians at the club) (6th Overall)

Brian Camacho (47th Overall)

I sent all my picks other than Sanchez to feeder club Maryland or Montreal.

I strengthened my club after the draft with MC Tamir Cohen (former Bolton player), Iranian international MC Andranik (Fulham), former Toronto FC GK Stefan Frei, and two youngsters in the waiver draft.

Nice season Brixton. Good luck in the Superliga.

Draft over for FC Dallas and only had three picks!

Here are the future starts of the MLS

Steve Negrate (2nd overall)

David Hamilton (the first of what I hope to be many Canadians at the club) (6th Overall)

Brian Camacho (47th Overall)

Two goalkeepers? Burse and Lambo aren't that bad...

On the other hand, Hamilton looks to have the potential to be a pretty good player for you.

Two goalkeepers? Burse and Lambo aren't that bad...

On the other hand, Hamilton looks to have the potential to be a pretty good player for you.

I really liked the look of Negrate and Camacho was really just a best of the rest. I've got rid of Burse anyway and bought in a Canadian () keeper called Sutton. I'll be looking to give both Hamilton and Negrate plenty of games and plus I just got the first overall pick in a trade with Salt Lake so my team is looking good.

Reloaded a few times as i didnt want to manage Magallanes and they kept coming up, but ive taken over CD Temuco S.A.D.P. otherwise known as Deportes Temuco

Manager Profile

looks like i need to bring in some players, not very many for all positions

FC Dallas 2010 Season Update

I'm tied for the last playoff spot in what has been a mostly disappointing and injury-filled season, but find myself in the final of the US Open Cup. I believe that if I win this I qualify for the champion's league. About to start playing, I'll let you all know the result.