iseemonsters' FM08 Small club to big club South American challenge

[minisav]

Originally posted by McTavish:

Akerman looks immense! Hopefully you'll be able to hang onto him.

Yeah hopefully he stays this time. Bloomin' Chairman. He's the reason all those transfers went through.

Some of them were good prospects too.

[minisav]

The chairman needs to die. After losing 6 games in a row I've been sacked.

Well that's me for now on this challenge. I may come back. I will keep watching your progress.

Oh well.

Bye.

[The Shaman]

Oh My! Finally managed to finish my 2010/11 season at Tristan Suarez...

As you can see from the position graph I looked like I'd be in nice position to finish safely. Eighth spot midway, as high as fourth a couple rounds previous.

Then the collapse, my stubborn refusal to deviate from my carefully crafted tactic and the result is a spot at the bottom... league table

I did have a couple of bright spots in the squad, Rolon and Salvatierra in particular leading my midfield. Fernando Alvarez was a monster during the first half, scoring 16 of his nineteen goals before picking up an injury right after the 20th game, he sat out the next five and couldn't find the net the rest of the year.

I'm hoping another qualifying team makes it up the next season so I can give another shot. Forget finishing the challenge, I'll settle for one year without relegation.

[The Shaman]

Same profile, new team to bring down in flames.

[McTavish]

Originally posted by The Shaman:

Oh My! Finally managed to finish my 2010/11 season at Tristan Suarez...

As you can see from the position graph I looked like I'd be in nice position to finish safely. Eighth spot midway, as high as fourth a couple rounds previous.

Then the collapse, my stubborn refusal to deviate from my carefully crafted tactic and the result is a spot at the bottom... league table

I did have a couple of bright spots in the squad, Rolon and Salvatierra in particular leading my midfield. Fernando Alvarez was a monster during the first half, scoring 16 of his nineteen goals before picking up an injury right after the 20th game, he sat out the next five and couldn't find the net the rest of the year.

I'm hoping another qualifying team makes it up the next season so I can give another shot. Forget finishing the challenge, I'll settle for one year without relegation.

Noes, relegated on goal difference!! That's gotta hurt

Still, pretty good season imo. What you really want now is for one of the teams previously promoted/relegated to bounce back up again - starting with a reasonably stable squad with players for all positions must help a bunch. And getting through the first season is the hardest part of this challenge really, it took me 4 attempts with Club Oriental de Futbol, and that was in a league where the standard of football is relatively low compared to Argentina. You'll make it this time anyway

Unlucky Minisav, you were doing so well too :/ As for chairmen, I agree totally, mine also has an evil habit of selling of my best players for cut-price fees, regardless of the state of club finances. I wouldn't mind so much if he didn't sell them to my main rivals

Originally posted by Colorado:

The bug with the Uruguayan leagues is a really big problem and ruined a really good game I had. Hopefully this will be fixed. One thing I've noticed with FM compared to real life particularly in South America is that clubs don't change managers no where near as often. On my editor (which may go against the princibles of some) I changed the Chairmans patience attribute from 1 to a maxium of 4. Clubs will often change manager 2, 3 or 4 times a year making it increasingly difficult but also more realistic. It takes some time to do but I really recommend it.

Hmm thanks for the tip, I might give this a go because I've noticed the same thing too and it's pretty annoying. More managers would get sacked for sure, but then there's always a problem of holding onto your own job. Have you posted about this in the bugs forum? Saw your post in the Uruguay data issues thread; looks like at least Uruguay will be fixed for FM09, but if the problem is common to all South American nations then it would definitely be worth pointing it out. Would be a shame if this didn't get fixed for the next version because the SA leagues are a lot of fun to manage in.

I've been a bit inactive with this challenge recently, my PC is playing up and I don't want to aggravate the HD I have the save backed up on because it's on it's last legs - worried it might get corrupted. I'll be back to it as soon as my new HD arrives anyway.

[corinthiano]

Well after a few weeks without motivation to play I have decided to give Brazil another crack and am determined to do better this time!!

So I chose a team from a different state, Nautico from Roraima was the chosen team. They managed to have an even lower wage budget than the Rolim de Moura with 95 pounds a week available, 75 of those being taken up by the youth players that were already there. Does anybody know a cheap way to get rid of those players?

The weird thing in the state of Roraima is that all the teams share the same stadium, Canarinho with a 10.000 capacity. This means all the games take place on different days, quite bizarre.

Oh yeah here is my profile.

So here I go again and I hope everyone else is still up for this!!

Good Luck to all!!

[corinthiano]

Well this attempt is already going a lot better, and it is certainly because I managed to get a good parent club for the club. First Division side Santos have provided us with almost an entire first teams squad, the best player being Domingos. If I m not mistaken he has been playing in the Santos first team IRL, so a very good coup. A lot of teams are interested in him though, including Zenith St. Petersburg of Russia, so I m not expecting him to stay for more than a season.

I have done quite well in the Roraima State Championship, getting second place. However there are only 3 Third Division sides in the league, so I havent been up against tough opposition. Another good bonus was the £30k prize for the runners up place. The money will help out a bit in the early stages.

There is a 2 month break until the National League. I am confident we can stay up and with luck on our side maybe even challenge for a place in the next round. Lets see!!

[corinthiano]

Nautico (RR) - 2009 Third Division Update

Well this attempt definately went a lot better

I knew I could challenge the two best teams on paper in my First Stage Group, Botafogo (PB) and Fast, however I was surprised that I ended up competing with Nacional de Patos and Amapa for the first two places. Doesnt matter though I went through.

In the Second Stage I was drawn in a relatively weak group and actually fancied my chances of going through, however it wasnt meant to be. I didnt manage to get more than a 0-0 against Ypiranga and Ulbra at home, which ended up costing me.

I was still very happy with my first season, although I dont have a single player on a full time contract. This is actually impossible as well, as my wage budget can only afford one weak player. I am going to have to lve of loan signings until finances improve.

With this in mind, it is my main aim towin the Roraima State Championship next year, as it gives me entry to the Brazilian Cup, which means money I am hoping to retain most of the loans made but know some of them like Domingos wont be coming back. My scouts have been pretty good at spotting young players at big clubs so hopefully they ll find me another couple of useful players. As for my expectations in the Third Division, getting through the First Stage would be nice again, but I am realistic enough to see it will be difficult.

[corinthiano]

Nautico (RR) 2010 Update

I wasnt too optimistic going into this season as I only managed to renew a couple of loans and had to get a whole new batch of loan signings in. I didnt feel we had the same quality or depth as last year, mainly in defence as Domingos ended up going to Flamengo and my scout only managed to find 3 DC's willing to come to Nautico.

However the season started greatly as we won the Roraima State Championship. We absolutely outclassed everyone and never looked like beingbeaten once. I got £50k prize money and a place in next years Brazilian Cup

I also felt that this years Third Division Group had much more quality teams, like Pirambu, America (SE) and mainly Corinthians (AL). To my surpise I dominated the group and finished in a comfortable firs place.

In the Second Stage I was drawn up in a really difficult group with giants Fortaleza, a good Maranhao side and Ananindeua, who arent anything special but a bigger club than me. The group went awfully bad and I finished in the last place.

Overall I am happy with the second season, especially about winning the Roraima State Championship. I managed to renew more loanees contracts this time around which is very good and I was happy to be able to renew my best players contract. Breitner was our AMC and was voted 3rd Best Young Player of the Third Division.

Next season I want to retain the State Championship as I think it is important to be playing regularly in the Cup. There is quite a bit of money to be made in the cup and if we re going to progress we need to be making more money. We managed to make a profit of £6k last season, but our sponsorship deal has trippled so am expecting to be making more money this season. The problem is the 3 months in which we dont play after getting eliminated from the Third Division, we end up loosing all the profit we made during the year. This means that I would like to try to get to the Third Stage this year, although it all depends on the Groups we get drawn into.

I have now got a weekly wage budget of £200, but still cant sign any players as my youth players are taking up £180 a week!!

[McTavish]

Welcome back mate, challenge wasn't the same without our resident South American expert ;D

Good job so far with Nautico, from what I've been reading Brazil has to be one of the toughest nations to start this challenge in because of the wage structures. Hopefully for FM09 the devs will take a look at this because it's not realistic to expect managers to survive (let alone prosper) with such a low wage budget. It might be worth pointing this out in the Brazil Data Issues thread. Relatively few people manage in the Brazilian 3rd division which is probably why no-one from SI is aware of the problem.

Impressive performance so far though, hopefully this season you'll get a better Second Stage draw and be able to progress further. Annoying about those pesky youth players though, I guess you've tried all the usual tricks like;

- unsetteling them (lower squad status, fines etc) and offering mutual terminations

- offering to clubs for £0

- offering to clubs on season long loan with 100% wages

If I recall correctly, when you free transfer a player you pay him half of his remaining contract (e.g a player with a 1 year contract worth £10 p/w would cost £260 to release rather than £520), so if you're sure they have no future at the club it's better in the long run to just free transfer them. Other thing which I'm sure you've already done is to make sure that in team settings you have "assistant manager handles youth/reserve contracts" unchecked.

Things are going pretty well for Oriental, update coming shortly.

[McTavish]

Club Oriental de Futbol - 2014/2015 Season Update

Uruguayan 1st Division

Opening Stage

Closing Stage

Final Table

As I'd hoped, we dominated the domestic leagues this season. Oriental finished the season in 1st place in the overall table with a record 71 points, while rivals Danubio were left trailing in our wake with a creditable 61 points. Victory in both opening and closing stages meant there was no need for a Champions Play-off this season, much to my relief after last seasons disappointment.

Liguilla

Uruguayan Liguilla Pre-Libertadores

This competition was always going to be a tricky affair as we were still competing in the Copa Libertadores. Having to squeeze in tough continental games in between a mini-league featuring the top 6 domestic sides was always going to be a tall order. Despite already having qualified for the copa SA and copa CL next season I was eager to win the Liguilla since it's the closest thing there is in Uruguay to a domestic cup competition, and it's the only domestic trophy missing from the club's cabinet. My decision to rest several key players in the final 2 games cost us in the end, with an away defeat at Defensor Sporting ultimately costing us the cup. Oh well, maybe next season.

Copa Sudamerica

South American Copa Sudamerica Tree

As expected we cruised through the early stages with comfortable wins over familiar opposition (Olimpia, Cerro Porteno and Barcelona (URU)). The quarter finals provided a stern test in the shape of Brazilian outfit Flamengo. I was fearing the worst having only managed a 2-2 draw in the home leg, but we pulled off an excellent counter-attacking display in the away leg to record a 3-1 victory and a place in the semi-finals.

The semi's pitted us against America (MEX), and I was optimistic going into the tie as I felt we had a stronger team on paper. After a thrilling 3-3 draw at home the tie was decided in front of a packed crowd in America's 104000 all seater Estadio Azteca and the fans expected a goal fest. In a really exciting game, America took a commanding 4-1 half-time lead before Peruvian play-maker Reimond Manco made his mark on the game, scoring twice in the second half to bring the score back to 4-3. At 7-6 on aggregate, a single goal would have seen us through to the final on away goals. Then, in the 87th minute, Manco was felled in the box and a penalty was awarded. Manco stepped up confidently to secure his hat-rick and see us though to the final. He rolled up his socks, took a deep breath, and...... blasted it over the bar.

Despite the disappointing exit I was pleased with our overall performance in the competition. The most positive aspect was that I was able to rest key players for league games and still dominate domestically, while keeping my best XI fresh for the copa SA. The fact that there's no limit on foreign players for continental competitions proved useful in that respect.

Copa Libertadores

South American Copa Libertadores Tree

Having failed to win the league last season, we had to play through a qualifier to even reach the group stage. We were drawn against Argentinian giants Racing Club, who for some unknown reason featured in this seasons World Club Championship despite not having won anything recently. The gave us a scare, but we edged the tie on away goals.

We were unseeded for the group stage and got handed a really tough group. After losing the opening game to the surprisingly impressive Peruvian champions, Alianza Lima, we found some form and went on to win the remaining 5 games and secure top spot in the group. Uruguayan champions Wanderers just about edged second place.

A good draw in the second round saw us coast to victory over Olimpia, before meeting Internacional in the quarters. We had a good record against the Brazilians , having played them 4 times last season and come out convincing winners, but they're a quality side and I was a bit nervous about facing them again. These worries proved to be unfounded; we kept it tight at the back and really took them apart on the counter, winning 4-0 in what was without doubt our best performance of the season. We were drawn against Chivas in the semi's and having lost out to Mexican opposition in the Copa Sudamerica I was determined not to see the same thing happen again. Both legs were extremely close but Williams Peralta proved the difference. The striker was at peak form and scored 3 goals over the two legs as we sailed through to the final, 3-2 on aggregate.

The final drew us against parent club Sao Paulo, bizarrely enough. Victory would (hopefully) see us qualify for the World Club Championship, one step away from completing the challenge. Despite having a much lower reputation than our Brazilian opponents, I felt going into the tie that my players were the better and that we'd played and beaten better teams this season. The first leg was away at Morumbi, and we led twice through Peralta only to see Sao Paulo pull level. The game finished 2-2. So the tie was decided in front of a record 8905 crowd at Oriental Stadium. Things were looking good as we dominated possession and chances, leading 1-0 at half time through Chilean international Joan Munoz. Gilberto clawed one back for Sao Paulo after the break, but we continued to control the game. At the full time whistle the scores were level, 3-3 on aggregate, but we led on away goals so of course I'd gone ultra-defensive with substitutions to close out the game. Little did I know, away goals don't count in the final (WTF!). So the game went to extra time, and in the 96th minute Thiago knocked home the winner for Sao Paulo. At this point we had 6 defenders on the park as I'd (wrongly) anticipated the away goals rule coming into effect, so we were bereft of creativity in the midfield and there was no way back into the game.

So we had to settle for runners-up this season, which I'd have taken at the start of the season but couldn't help feeling robbed after coming so close.

Summary

Transfers

We raised £12m in player sales this season. My wonderful chairmen decided to sell both my wingbacks (Lopez and Montelongo) at the start of the season to divisional rivals for £2m a piece, particularly annoying as they'd only been at the club for a season and I'd gone to great lengths to find exactly the right players for those positions.

Fortunately Montelongo wanted out at Nacional at the end of the season and I was able to sign him back for £1.2m, so not a bad piece of business. Lopez's replacement Bittolo was sold (by my chairman, again) to Brugge so I'm in the hunt for a new left wingback next season. Most of my players are content at the club after this seasons success, but star player Manco and cenre back Silva still want to move to bigger clubs. I'm still waiting for an acceptable offer for either.

No other signings of note except Argentinian centre half Abel Masuero, and a handful of exciting young prospects.

Finances

Things are looking quite rosy, but with another stadium expansion and upgraded training facilities in the pipeline we'll need all the cash we can get.

Best X1

I rotated a lot this season but my attacking trio was immense. Peralta and Aprile are probably at the peak of their careers, Gomez was exceptional when he got the chance and Manco was inspirational in the role behind the strikers - I'll be sad to lose him. Christian Paz had a great season in holding role, Munoz and Valero both made it into their international teams this season (Chile and Columbia respectively). My wing-backs were a little weak and I'll be looking to strengthen that area for next season, as well as the back 3 as Mualella and Vieira are past their best.

Most promising though was the progress of the my youngsters. In particular, Columbian U21 international Piero (who somehow gained Uruguayan nationality in only his second season in the country) is shaping up to be a world class AMC.

[corinthiano]

Great season you ve had there McTavish, unlucky with regards to the final. A few years ago there wasnt even an away goals rule in the other knockout stages and not even extra time!! It would go straight to penalties!! It seems that you might complete this challenge in a couple of seasons!!

I know what you mean about there not being cup competitions in Uruguay. That is one thing that frustrated me in Chile. I like having the distraction of cups and thats what I m really enjoying in Brazil at the moment. There are 3 different competitions each year and it makes it more fun in the long run.

Amazing how much money you ve made on sales and even more impressive that your standard didnt drop with all the players leaving. Also nice to see your investment in youth paying off.

I laughed at the news that you played a Libertadores final in front of less than 10 000 people. IRL the stadium has to hold at least 40 000 people. There was a huge debate in the 2005 final about it and Atletico Paranaense had to play their "home" leg in a different State!! And the point with Racing could be that they lost the Libertadores final against a Mexican side. If a Mexican side wins they dont qualify for the CWC and the runner up qualifies instead.

Thanks for the tips on the youth players. I didnt know you could do that with players on youth contracts. I have to pay around £2k to the players if I try to release them though!!

[corinthiano]

Nautico (RR) - 2011 Update

The Roraima State Chamionship was a much closer affair this time, it was all running smoothly until we got trashed 4-1 at home to main rivals Bare. This brought them withtin 3 points of us and they kept the pressure on until the last round. In my last game I had to get a draw against Atletico Roraima, the third force in the state, the game was really tight until late in the first half when we got a lucky goal through a deflection. From then on we ran riot and ended up winning 4-1, meanin we retained the title.

The Brazilian Cup was a very short adventure, we got drawn against giants Sao Paulo in the first round and got trashed 7-2 on aggregate. We made some good money of the tie though. The first round gives you £8k appearance money and we got another £30k when we played away as the gate receipts were shared.

The Third Division was a dissappointment this year, with us failing to reach the Second Stage. There were 3 key games where we ruined our chances. A pathetic 3-0 loss against a very bad Cristal side and two games against Bare and Amapa where we were leading 2-0 and conceded the equalizer in the 90th minute. The two games ran exactly the same way and really frustrated me!!

This year we managed to make £40k profit and our wage budget has increased again to £350, so slowly but surely the club is getting the money it needs to progress. However at the start of this current season I have found it very difficult to find loan players and am hoping we can play at the same level with the smaller squad we have.

[andaos]

sorry guy for not posting i have been away the past week i will post 2 season reviews.

excellent proggress mctavish hope u win the world championship it will be kind of hard though beating a european team.

also nice job corinthiano hope u keep progressing with nautico.

as for me the current season is awful although i wont get relegated i am doing sht. i have the players but they dont do their best. my finances keep decreasing and i keep selling players but it dont matter i will try not to sell and buy lots of players since it will affect my team.

[McTavish]

Looking forward to your updates andaos.

It's hard to make any money while playing in less reputable leagues because no matter how many fans you attract your gate receipts are always very low because of the low ticket prices. Even once you're doing well and winning stuff you can't support a decent team with income from gate receipts and prize money alone. Seems the only way to make a decent profit is to buy lots of young players, develop them and sell them on. Fortunately this is made easier by the way in which you can manipulate the transfer market and demand extortionate fees for very average players. Not entirely realistic, but meh.

Well done with Nautico Corinthiano. I guess the first few seasons are just about consolidating and building for the future - so long as your wage budget keeps increasing you should be able to pull together a full squad in another season or two, and promotion shouldn't be so hard after that. Looks like you were really unlucky in the 3rd division last season, sucks to miss promotion by a point

I'm getting a bit behind with the updates again, had a great season with Oriental in 2015/16 and I'm half-way through the next. It's getting very difficult now because it seems as soon as any of my players start playing for their international sides they demand transfers to European clubs. This wouldn't be so bad but I've reached the point where I can't actually sign any decent replacements; the only way I can keep the squad up to the same standard is to buy youth players and develop them myself. I'm hoping that my club reputation keeps on rising so that I can at least sign players from the top Brazilian clubs in the future. Will try and update later today anyway.

[corinthiano]

Also looking forward to your updates andaos

It wasnt even promotion I missed, I didnt get past the first stage!! There are 4 stages and I d got to the Second one in the previous two seasons so it was a bit dissappointing to fall at the first hurdle last season. This season is not going so well at the moment, I havent been able to domiate the State Championship and Bare looks like they ll wi it this year. This means no place in next years Brazilian Cup, which means less money earned

This season in the Brazilian Cup was a bit of a haertbreak as well, I got drawn against Gremio Barueri, who just got relegated from the First Division. I lost the first lege 1-0 at home, but to my surprise managed to score an early goal in Barueri. I managed to hold on to that lead until the 82nd minute and lost 2-1 on aggregate.

I am having a break form FM at the moment as I need to write my placemenet essay, so there wont be any updates from me in a little while.

McTavish, are you going to be doing an update for the 15/16 season? Do you think you ll be able to sign the top brazilian and argentinian players at some point? Those two leagues have a much highe reputation than the Uruguayan and from what I ve heard in Gundo's challenge, the leageu reputation does not change in FM. Hopefully you can get your club reputation high enough to attract the top players though!! Are you already managing to do that in Uruguay or are Penarol, Nacional and Danubio still signing the best players?

[McTavish]

Yep just writing the my 15/16 essay *ahem* update now, should have done it at the time really cos having a hard time finding a save point last season.

Yeah I read a bit about league reputation, apparently there's two different factors; league reputation (which is fixed) and competition reputation which can increase. In Europe it only increases when a club from that league wins a European competition such as the Champions League or UEFA cup - not too sure how it will work out in South America but I'm hoping to find out.

Penarol are nowhere at the moment, they almost got relegated last season despite pulling in the biggest crowds. Nacional, Danubio and Defensor Sporting are still competitive in the league but our club reputation is a good deal higher now so I could buy their players if I wanted to but this would be a step in the wrong direction at this stage.

Most of the best players available to me come from "2nd tier" Argentinian/Brazilian/Mexican clubs like Estudientes, Vitoria or Moriela. More recently some European players have shown an interest but I'd have a hard time meeting their wage demands. It's an encouraging sign all the same.

[McTavish]

Club Oriental de Futbol – 2015/16 End of Season Update

Uruguayan 1st Division

The league was surprisingly close this year. We started extremely well, going a record 24 games undefeated in all competitions, but Nacional somehow stayed in touch throughout the opening stage. We needed only a point from the final game to win the stage, but my decision to rest key players due to Copa Sudamerica commitments backfired as we slumped to a 2-1 defeat against over-achievers Sud America, gifting Nacional the opening stage on goal difference.

Opening Stage Table

The closing stage was similarly dramatic. Defensor Sporting were the team to beat, and despite thrashing them 6-1 at home earlier in the season we couldn’t maintain good enough form and they pipped us to the post, winning the closing stage by a single point. Again, it was the fixutre pile up towards the end of the season that cost us; the two draws in our final 2 home games were in no small part down to our participation in the later stages of the Libertadores.

Closing Stage Table

Despite finishing 2nd in both stages we finished 1st in the final table.

Final League Table

This meant that the playoff was between 3 teams this year, with Oriental looking to defend the title against Nacional and Defensor Sporting. An “easy†quarter final draw in the Copa Libertadores was enough to take some pressure off my key players and we were more than a match for them, easing to our 3rd league title in 4 seasons.

Champions Playoff

Liguilla

In a season in which just about everything had gone our way, I was really hoping we’d see our name etched ont he Liguilla Cup this season. But things started badly as bogey team Sud America thrashed us 3-0. We then drew with outsiders Deportivo Maldonado which left us with it all to do. The players rose to the occasion as we took 9 points from our final 3 games. Sud America couldn’t continue their good form and slipped up in the final game, allowing us to draw level on points. Despite an inferior goal difference, we had done enough to secure a final playoff replay against Sud America. This one was at home, and we made no mistake, winning 1-0 to secure the Liguilla for the first time in the clubs proud history.

Uruguayan Liguilla Pre-Libertadores

Copa Sudamerica

After last seasons disappointing defeat to Boca in the final, we were eager to have another stab at it. The draw was kind and we sailed through the early stages with relative ease. Then in the semi-finals we were drawn against Boca. The fans were pessimistic going into the tie; Boca were clear favourites to retain the competition and had an very impressive squad. The Oriental players had other ideas and took their revenge for last seasons defeat in the final, winning 2-1 at home and taking the tie 4-3 on aggregate.

This set up a final against Brazilian giants Fluminese, but despite their massive reputation their team was sadly lacking. We stormed into a 4-0 lead in the first half of the home leg, and the tie should have been over but we somehow lost concentration at the end and conceded 2 late goals. Despite dominating the return leg we couldn’t seem to score, and Fluminese took a 1-0 lead going into the second half. Another goal would have forced extra time, and things looked bad as Oriental Captain Musuero concended a late penalty. It was to be our year though; Goicochea saved low down to his right, and we held out to win 4-3 on aggregate.

CSA Final

The board, fans, and everyone involved with the club were understandably delighted with winning the Copa Sudamerica. Many will look back at the 2-1 home victory over Boca Juniors as the defining moment of the campaign.

CSA Tree

Copa Libertadores

We were drawn quite a tough group this season. Chivas were one of the best teams competing in the competition and Argentinian side Independiente couldn’t be underestimated. Despite losing at home to Chivas in our second game, comfortable home victories against a weak Universidad Chile side and a disappointing Independiente saw us through to the next round. An emphatic 4-2 away win at Chivas to secure top spot in the group was the icing on the cake.

The second round pitted us against familiar opposition in the form of River Plate. We knew what they were all about having already knocked them out of the Copa Sudamerica this season, but the fixtures came at a time when we were under alot of pressure to get results in the league. Having lost the first leg 2-1 we needed a good performance in the home leg. River dominated the game and we were lucky in the end, Musuero netting late on from a corner to give us a 2-0 win on the night, 3-2 on aggregate.

The quarters drew us against Colombian side Cucuta Deportiva. It was a relief to get a non Brazilian/Argentinian/Mexican side as my squad were worn out after a long season. The Colombians put in a creditable performance in both legs but we were far too strong for them in the end, winning 5-1 on aggregate.

That put us into the semi finals, where we faced Chivas who we’d narrowly beaten in the group stages. This proved to be the best tie of the tournament. In a scintilating game at Estadio Jalisco in front of a full capacity crowd of 65000, Chivas came from behind to win 3-2 in a freescoring game. In the home leg we raced into a 2-0 half time lead. Manco added a third on the hour before Chivas came right back into it with two goals in 3 minutes, before substitute Sebastian Cardozo proved his credentials by scoring the winner 5 minutes from time. We won 6-5 on aggregate to progress to the final.

In the final we faced the one team we’d been hoping to avoid; Boca Juniors. They’re really the team to beat in South America at the moment. The away leg was extremely nervy. Both teams had chances to win it but Cardozo continued his fine run of form by netting the only goal of the game to give us a 1-0 lead going into the home leg. The newly expanded Oriental Stadium was packed to the rafters for the decider, with a record turnout of 13556 die-hard fans. The game was, again, extremely close, but in the end we took the Cup by securing a 3-3 draw.

Copa Libertadores Final

I was delighted with our overall performance in the competition. We did have some luck along the way, most notbaly the home tie against River where we barely deserved to progress, but on balance the team performed exceptionally well throughout and no-one could say we didn’t deserve to lift the cup.

Copa Libertadores Tree

Peralta was voted the best player of the competition with Gomez coming in a close second. 5 of my players made the Libertadores dream team including Manco, Paz, Goicochea and Pedro Diaz, with the majority of the others representing Santos who I was happy to have avoided playing.

Copa Libertadores Dream Team

Summary

A fantastic season overall as we did the quadruple. The league was far closer than it should have been and we were very lucky to take the Liguilla too, but our performance in the continental cups was superb and we fully deserved some success.

Transfers

A very quiet season in the transfer market this time around.

Finances

Despite having such a succesful season, finances have dipped slightly over the past year. This was mostly due to an increase on player wages, and the fact that I didn’t sell off many players throughout the season. It’s a pity that prize money isn’t a bit higher for the CSA/CL. :/

Best XI

Another great season for Gomez and Peralta up front, with Cardozo starting to mature into a quality player and providing some stiff competition. But it was Juan Carlos Piero who stole the show, the Columbian youngster showed phenomenal consistency throughout the season and kept star player Manco on the bench for much of the time. The other Columbian youngsters are developing nicely too and have gained (or are close to gaining) Uruguayan nationality, which bodes well for the future:

Cacho

Santacruz

Valero

Yuste

Godoy

[corinthiano]

Wow, amazing season you ve had McTavish!! So close to completing the challenge now!! You said you were already halfway through the last season, does that mean you ve already played the CWC?

I ve ditched my placement essay, but will start my first sign-up in a bit. Will try to play this challange parallel to it.

[McTavish]

Club Oriental de Futobol - 2016/17 Mid-Season Update

Just a mini-update this time, I'm exhausted after the last one

Recopa

We carried on our fine form from last season, beating Sao Paulo 2-1 on aggregate, with Piero scoring the winner on 87 minutes in a tense away game. With only £190k prize money, it hardly seemed worth turning up. Still, another trophy for the cabinet I suppose.

Copa Sudamerica

A thrilling semi-final against America (MEX) saw us progress on away goals, after going 4-0 only for the Mexican side to draw level. This set up a final against, you guessed it, Boca.

I thought we had the edge, having beaten in both continental competitions last season, but the rival Argentinian side proved too strong for us this time around.

[McTavish]

Oriental (URU) - 2016 WCC Update

So, having won the Libertadores in emphatic fashion last season, we qualified for the World Club Championship and the end of the challenge was in sight.

We entered the competition at the semi-final stage.

The match against Asian Champions Dalian was played at Japan's Yokohama stadium. The Chinese side clear outsiders and fielded a very defensive line up. Despite thoroughly dominating the game and creating numerous chances, we couldn't force a goal and after 90 minutes the tie went to penalties.

In the most dramatic penalty shootout I;ve ever witnessed, Dalian had five seperate chances to score the winning penalty. Moroccan international goalkeeper Lahoucine Falah was the Oriental hero on the day as he made a string of penalty saves before stepping up himself and netting the winner.

2016 WCC Semi-Finals:

Cruz Azul (Mex) 0 v 1 Barcelona (Esp)

Dalian (Chn) 0 v 0(p) Oriental (Uru)

The result set up a dream tie against Catalonian giants Barcelona, who beat Cruz Azul to reach the final.

Despite being only 90 minutes away from completing the challenge, I was pessimistic going into the game. Of all the possible teams to play in the final Barcelona would have been my last choice. They sported an attacking trio of Giovinco, Iniesta and Messi, with Monnet-Paquet as the spearhead. All world class players with strings of 20's. /Sigh

I decided it was futile to play too defensively against a team who so clearly outclassed us, instead choosing a familiar 5-3-2 formation only with an anchor midfielder instead of an AMC. The plan was to limit Barca's chances by man marking their creative players out of the game. Going forward I felt we had the quality to cause them a few problems as their back-line was relatively weak, so I chose to play our usual short passing style instead of trying to hit them on the counter.

We started brightly, creating a number of chances early on but failing to capitalise. Then game the game's moment of controversy. In the 28th minute, Barca won a throw in deep in our half. Shpugin went over to take it and fed Zapater, whose cross richoted off valero and fell into the path of Iniesta on the edge of the box. In a rare lapse of concentration, Paz failed to close him down quickly enough and he fed the ball into the 6-yard box to Monnet-Paquet, who was CLEARLY A YARD OFFSIDE. The flag stayed down and he fired past a flailing Falah to put Barca into the lead.

Zapater added a second on 32 minutes from a corner, before Paz made amends on the stroke of half-time, deflecting a free-kick off Monnet-Paquet into the corner of the Barca net.

Barca came out and attacked in the second half, hitting the post with a long range effort. Then, in the 53rd minute, Gomez ran clean through after a defensive mistake from the slightly dodgy Bellaid. His shot rebounded off Valdes but he was able to squeeze it home at the second attempt, to level the tie at 2-2.

But the Catalonian's wouldn't give up, and they took the lead again in the 69th minute through Putsilo's superb 20 yard effort. After a sustained period of pressure, Gomez rammed home after a scramble in the box from Piero's well flighted corner. 3-3- with 10 minutes to go!

The game was decided in the 87th minute. Falah went up to claim a harmless cross from Fabio, but Masuero was adjudged to have pushed Putsilo and the ref gave a penalty. Disgraceful decision in my opinion. Messi stepped up and didn't ever look like missing, as he sent Falah the wrong way and fired Barca into a 4-3 lead.

So late in the game, there was nothing to do but all out attack. Barca had several chances to kill the game off in the dying minutes but the score remained 4-3 and Barca were crowned World Champions.

2016 WCC Final:

Barcelona 4 v 3 Orential (URU)

Here's the PKM if anyone's interested, well worth a download; was a cracking match.

http://rapidshare.com/files/106906642/CWC_Final_-_Barce...v_Oriental__URU_.pkm

Despite the defeat I was pretty happy with the performance. To go so close against a team as good as Barcelona is very encouraging, and the runners-up prize money netted us a cool £1.8m. It was a good learning experience for my very young squad, and hopefully in future seasons I'll get drawn an easier European side, e.g Ajax, Liverpool etc. ASsuming we ever manage to win the Libertadores again

[corinthiano]

Just watched the game against Barca, what a thriller!! You we re really unlucky not to have won, the two decisions did look VERY dubious.

It is quite a difficult journey before you get to these measly two games at the CWC so I hope you manage to do it again!! You clearly showed that you are amongst the big boys in South America so I can see you winning the Libertadores again, maybe you can become the new Boca

[minisav]

Unlucky McTavish.

I miss this challenge.

But I must do the Apirl challenge (Set in Argentina of all places)

And then further myself in Gundo's too. I will be back!

[McTavish]

Club Oriental de Futbol – 2016/17 End of Season Update

Domestic Competitions

Final Table

Another close season in the league saw us win the opening stage but slip up in the final game of the closing stage to finish second behind Danubio, level on overall points but ahead on goal difference.

Playoff

The playoff was a nervy affair. We took a narrow 2-1 lead into the away leg and things looked bad as Estevez fired Danubio level on aggregate but ahead on away goals. Gomez eventually struck the winner in the 76th minute to give us our 3rd consecutive Uruguayan league title.

Liguilla

Nacional provided the shock of the tournament, beating a jaded Oriental side 2-1 at Gran Parque Central. Despite a good performance in our last 3 matches we couldn't claw it back and Nacional took first place.

Continental Competitions

Libertadores Group

This year holders Oriental were drawn alongside rival Brazilian club Internacional, with Universitado and Barcelona (ECU) propping up the group. Inter were alot weaker this season than they had been 2 years ago, but they managed to beat us at home in the final game. This had consequences on the draw for the second round. Oriental finished as the 5th best first placed team despite a tally of 15 points, while Internacional finished as the 4th best second place team. Meaning the two clubs would face each other in the second round.

Libertadores Tree

We just about edged through the second round with a 3-2 aggregate victory, and were "rewarded" with a quarter final tie against Santos, the only major Sao Paulo state team we hadn't yet faced in a continental competition. They played an interesting style of football that I wouldn't have expected from a Brazilian team, and eventually edged the tie on away goals. This ended our Libertadores adventures for the season, and the squad were disappointed at being unable to emulate last season's success.

2016/17 Season Honours

[br]<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Uruguayan First Division Winners

Liguilla Runners-Up

Recopa Winners

Copa Sudamerica Runners-Up

Copa Libertadores Quarter-Final

World Club Championship Runners-up

</pre>

A decent season overall, slightly disappointed with our Libertadores performance though. Still, 2 more trophies for the cabinet.

Player Watch

Yet another fantastic season from the Gomez / Peralta partnership up-front. Peiro kept Manco out of the team for much of the time, amassing 11 goals and 19 assists for the club and performing equally well for the Columbian national side. Meanwhile Manco, after wanting to leave for a bigger club for over 2 seasons now, has decided he's happy at the club and signed a new contract which should increase his value a bit if I decide to let him go next season. The player of the season though, in the manager's opinion, was Moroccan goalkeeper Lahoucine Falah. His assured performances between the posts belied his age and having already accumulated 47 caps for the national side he's surely one to watch for the future.

Best XI

Transfer Round-Up

A busy season in the transfer market this time around. I decided to import some ageing stars from the European leagues, not to actually play in competitive matches but to tutor my youngsters and pass on some good PPMs. While this has worked to some extent, I went a bit over the top and signed a few too many which seemed to upset the balance oft he team. Not to mention the hefty increase in wages.

Once again, we managed to raise quite a bit of money through player sales. Long serving striker Gustavo Aprile was allowed to leave to Olimpia as he struggled to break into the first team this season. Young midfielder Flavio Robas was sold to Penarol for a whopping £3.9m, as he was deemed surplus to requirements, but I made a mistake in selling Bolivian international goalkeeper William Herrera to league rivals Danubio for a paltry £1.7m. He went on to have a superb season for the league challengers and was instrumental in their drive to second place. Perhaps the low-point of the season was the chairman's decision to offload promising centre back Jorge Rebollo to Nurnberg for £4.8m; the youngster had only recently broken into the first team and was set for a bright season.

After Rebollo's departure, I was left scrambling for a replacement centre half. Unfortunately there were very few quality players available, and we eventually settled for 2 players to provide cover until next season. Liber Ferreyra joined from Defensor Sporting and Italian Under-21 international Diego Brunetti from Atalanta. More promisingly, we were able to attract some top Mexican youngsters with defensive midfielder Felipe Ramirez the pick of the bunch.

Tranfers

Finances

Fuelled by the sale of a few big-name players, club finances rose to an all time high this season. So much so that we broke into the worlds top 100 richest clubs!

World Richest Clubs

Club Finances

As a result the board agreed to further invest in the clubs stadium and training facilites, with the improvements expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Club Information

[corinthiano]

Good season McTavish

Unlucky about the Libertadores, why would you say that Santos played a different style then you expected?

I was amazed that you even managed to sign those players from Europe, I havent been able to sign any player from Europe since CM 01/02 when I signed Aghahowa and West in evey game, but then they arent even european, just played for an european side!!

Nice to see that you are starting to dominate in Ururguay, although deciding a title in a Playoff is always a bit tough!!

[McTavish]

Yeah it's annoying to have the title go to a play-off almost every season; it doesn't seem to matter how many points we accumulate, there's always one or two sides that manage to stay in contention. The main problem is playing so many games in the Copa Libertadores\Sudamerica. The fixtures really pile up when there are 30 odd continental matches scheduled around league games, and it's really important to rotate a lot so players don't get jaded.

Santos played differently from any Brazilian sides I've come up against; they played direct, high tempo 4-4-2 focussing on wing play, which is quite a contrast from the 4-2-2-2 type formations that I've come to expect in the Libertadores.

I think the team rep must still be rising because I'm getting more interest from french/spanish/italian players now. Most of them are either really old or really crap, but it's encouraging all the same. I'm still a bit behind the top South American clubs like Boca, Internacional, Gremio, America etc in terms of reputation but I doubt I'll ever be able to attract their top players to the Uruguayan league anyway.

[corinthiano]

Yeah, true very unusual for a Brazilian side, I actually have never seen a high tempo game in Brazil, its all really slow and based on patience.

Nice to see that your getting better players in, although this probably means you ll get even more interest from European clubs.

[andaos]

2010 First Phase league table

League table first phase 2010

this was a really good season for my team. they played very good and also i did nicely in the group stage. this was a glorious first half year league for the first time i got to play in first division.

2010 second phase league table

league table second phase

this was not really a dissapointing season because i almost qualified and i am in first division. so i had nothing to worry and look for the next years.

this is my transfers for 2010, yes i know i know i signed lots of people but i am in proccess of changing the team for being more competitive.

yesss i know i finally put up my season review, about time right. i am also going to put 2011 in the next post. Mctavish what a progress you did you so close to beaten it. i am not going to let you win first .. just kidding i am very far to even win the league of colombia.

[andaos]

First Phase of 2011 league table]

League table 2011 first phase

all i can say is that i was so dam close to qualifying only one point off.... sure sucks..

Second Phase 2011 League table

League Table second phase 2011

this one VERY Dissapointing season. Worst season so far but i will try to improve better.

i made a new tactic but proved to be bad even thuogh i had more possesion and more shots to goal........i switched back to old one i made and made it better so hopefully i will do better.

Transfers of 2011. i didn't sign as much people as 2010 but still is plenty but each year i will decreased because i need my squad to bond together. the players to watch would be eduardo vargas, marcelo mendoza and humberto osorio. all three strikers and very good.

right now in my season in 2012 i only signed 3 players because i plan to keep the group together so they can play good together. my team has the potential to become big but we aren't quite ready yet. i will try to push this team further and further.

[corinthiano]

Couple of decent seasons there andaos, shame you couldnt keep up the form in the 2011, but like you said your team needs to bond and I am sure you will be progressing from now on

[McTavish]

Good going Andaos, 2010 was quite a season for Florida Soccer. I see you're building for future by making lots of signings; it'll take them awhile to settle which is probably why you struggled a bit in 2011 but it'll no doubt pay off in the long run.

[andaos]

hey are we allowed to take international management cause i took over panama job if yes then play say quickly cause i dont want to resign immediately. i will post my 2012 and 2013 season review later. got a big surprised.

[corinthiano]

Well in the original rules you are not allowed to take international management, but seeing as not many people are doing the challenge I dont think there is a problem. I certainly wouldnt mind it...

[andaos]

kk i wont quit coaching panama unless iseemonsters tells me. anyways they dont really have any good player except one .

[Colorado]

Still following this thread guys. I have started a South American game but haven't posted in here as I'm not following the challenge. I'm just playing a career game with the aim of starting low and working up to a top club.

You can follow it if your interestedhere

[minisav]

Shame that this isn't generating as much interest as it deserves

I may start this again. Don't know where though.

I've decided not Argentina, Brazil or Mexico. Where do you think guys?

[McTavish]

I'm proud to announce I finally completed this challenge the other day! I won't give any details until I get around to writing the final update.

Iseemonsters hasn't posted for a few months now Andaos so I think you're safe to keep the Panama job; it's unlikely to have any influence on your success at with Florida Soccer anyway.

Thinking of cracking on with mt Suth America career game too Colorado but given what you mentioned about the lack of managerial casualties I might wait until fm09 now; it's not so far off really

Minisav, maybe try Mexico? Looks a good league to manage in given the slightly weird league structure, plus the league rep is quite high so it should be quite good fun after a few seasons.

[minisav]

Erm well it was one of the ones I didn't want to do but I might try it. Then again I might wait for 09 too

[McTavish]

bah sorry, I should read more carefully. So no Brazil, Mexico or Argentina... hmm. That just leaves Peru, Colombia and Uruguay? Oh and Chile. Being fairly small leagues it should be relatively easy to dominate domestically but challenging for the Libertadores is a big step up. It got pretty frustrating for me in Uruguay in the end because despite winning the libertadores the league rep caused all my best players to want out after awhile. It's fun and all but kinda sad when the quality of your squad isn't limited by your managerial skill and success, but rather by some numbers hard coded into the game.

[Colorado]

Shame that this isn't generating as much interest as it deserves

I think unless you have a specific interest in the South American game it is probably quite difficult to get into. Once you get used to the clubs and variety of competitions though it are without doubt the most exciting leagues to play imo.

Thinking of cracking on with mt Suth America career game too Colorado but given what you mentioned about the lack of managerial casualties I might wait until fm09 now; it's not so far off really

Please note, that this is only with Uruguayan clubs, as far as I'm aware the rest of the S.American nations run without this issue so don't let that put you off, besides by the time FM09 is released and becomes completely playable after a patch or two it will be a good few months. I'd be interested to see how you do in Brazil given your success in Uruguay!

[andaos]

guys i haven't posted because i got so mad since my fm crashed and it didn't save. i was playing the copa libertadores and lost in the first playoffs but i was happy to qualify on the group but i lost because i went to holiday and my assistant took out my two starter defenders???????? and then i won colombia first division again and then it crashed. i also quitted panama job since there was only one good player and the qualifiers where two games almost done. i think this thread is dead now. i will join you colorado on the working my self up to a top club starting from a low club of any country to a top club.ill start unenployed with sunday league footballer and apply for jobs i guess.

[andaos]

oh i almost forget, congrats mctavish is nice that at least one won the competition.

[Colorado]

Yes, well done mctavish, the Uruguayan leagues are very difficult too. I was very impressed!

[Guest roberto922]

I thought I should bring this to Razer82s attention in case he want's any ideas for his FM 09 update.