WarroOxford Posted January 12, 2015 Share Posted January 12, 2015 Manager Profile Part 1. Manager Profile Part 2. My first job, GKS Katowice. Competitions overview. I didn't find a job that I was really happy with until the 17th October 2014. While Poland isn't exactly the first choice of country to take my first management job, I believe I've found a good situation with GKS Katowice, part of the I Liga (second division) in Poland. The club currently sit third in the league, just four points from the top. They started the season red hot, and led the league for much of the way. However, a run of five games without a league win has seen the previous manager lose his job. The immediate expectation is for the club to win the title, so there's no lack of pressure for my first managerial reign! I have twenty more games (plus at least one cup game) to help the club get back into the top division of Poland for the first time since the 04/05 season. I've inherited a pretty strong squad for this level, so I understand why expectations are so high. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarroOxford Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Morale Manager 2015 has already made my position at GKS Katowice virtually untenable after a mere four games in charge. Performances have been absolutely horrific, and nine of my starting line-up have an abysmal morale level after telling a rotation player he could get some chances to play off the subs bench. We haven't scored a single goal, and we got absolutely demolished away to a team stuck in the relegation battle. It's a complete train wreck, and utterly bizarre considering how dominant they were to begin the season. I'm giving it one more game, and if we get humiliated again, I'm packing my bags. I take full responsibility for the first loss we had, but since then, it's been pretty much out of my control. Incredibly frustrating considering the talent this team has, and how close we were to the top two despite their bad run of form. EDIT: We've followed that rage post with a decent draw, and then absolutely destroying the league leaders, because screw logic. So I'll stay around at least until the end of the season and see if we can rescue this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Good luck WarroOxford I think you've identified one of the big challenges of this, erm, challenge. It's a lot easier to get off to a good start when you have a long preseason for your team to get used to your tactics and the chance to shape the squad a little bit. Choosing the team to start with is absolutely vital in this game. When I took over Kaizer Chiefs we were absolutely whalloped in our first 2 matches. (by about 5 goals each game). A team of toddlers would have done a better job of defending set pieces. Then, just like with your team, it turned around. If your team is good enough it will, but sometimes, as with my first very brief foray into the challenge with Renhe; nothing in the universe can help you before the next transfer window. Katowice seem like a good choice, (if you can't get a top league job to start off with). My experience though is that it is quite difficult to get jobs (after the first one) in the game, or at least jobs that are with sides demonstrably better than the one you're currently with. For me the key was winning a trophy with my starting side, but I still had to quit that job and go unemployed in order to get a new one. On a related topic, I applied for post-World Cup jobs with the international sides that I thought could win a trophy (England, Brazil, Holland, Mexico, Spain), and was laughed at. I dare say there are countries (South Korea, Australia, Ivory Coast) that would have met my criteria, but they didn't come up. Above all, it would be interesting to see what I could do with South Africa if that job became vacant. The international side is doing very poorly, but I can't help feeling that they're underperforming. I think a side just made up of past and present South African Kaizer Chief players could kick some arse. Anyway, it looks like I'm stuck with China for the Asian nations Cup. We have beaten South korea, Australia, Japan. Unfortunately we've also lost to some sides we should have beaten. There's a very promising 17 year old Chinese player that I've signed to Kaizer Chiefs. I mean he's not ready for the first team, but then there aren't any Chinese players good enough. I'll have to arrange a friendly soon to give him his first cap, as he has duel Argentinian nationality. However, he's in the Chinese national squad, so he's not delusional enough to think he's good enough for the country of his birth. (This of course is a fault with the game, as Chinese people cannot have duel nationality), but there's another 2 Argentinians and 2 Uruguayan youngsters in the Chinese super league, so I think I've uncovered some kind of sinister child kidnapping racket. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyAnger Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hey everyone, I have really enjoyed reading everyone's posts so far and thought I would give it a go. I decided to load up the Asian leagues and South Africa and somehow (mainly nothing jobs appearing and then getting bored) ended up in Indonesia with Barito Putra. They were down in the relegation spots when I took over (17th out of 20, but for some reason 4 teams go down every year), with 1 point from the first 4 games. Now 30 games in I have dragged this good awful team up to 2nd place, and I am only 2 points behind the leader who played three games more. The league is so poor anyone could win it with a bit of work - we were predicted 9th, but we win by 3 goals most games (crazy scores like 7-4 happen with alarming regularity) and I am cruising in the cup with a semi final against a team 3 divisions below me. I will post my end of season stuff up here when I get the chance, hopefully I will be able to tick off one of those top division and domestic cup wins! Either of those cups will get me into the Asian Champions League, but I think I will leave at the end of the season and try and get somewhere bigger - I just have to hope my C badge comes in soon that the club let me do! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyAnger Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Barito Putera As I mentioned in my previous post I got fairly bored waiting for the right job to appear and ended up going to the Borneo based size Barito Putera in the Indonesian Super League, the nations top league. So this season has been, well, really successful. When I took over the team was a mess; they had 1 point to their name and were down in the relegation spots. On top of this the squad makeup was a shambles - we only had two wide players, both MRs. The side were predicted 9th in the table, and it was only our second season in the top flight but we should have been much better than 17th. It did not start out so well for me as first, the first 5 games went by with no wins. Then I switched up tactics to a very narrow 4-3-3 (no wingers or wide forwards to speak of - all width coming from the fullbacks). This really kick started the season for us and we just kept winning and winning - in the end we only ended up losing 5 more matches. Despite this the poor start and the odd draw in the season hinder us a bit and we only won the league on goal difference over PSM - it was a tense finally day of the season as four sides could have won the title and we were losing right down to the last few moments, but thankfully a goal from Yongky Aribowo in the 78th min drew the game for us and we snatched our first top flight trophy! The tactic with three forwards up front really worked out well as the defences in the division are just awful - in the end we scored 91 goals in 38 games, with 5 players scoring 12 or more goals. The Indonesian Cup has also gone really well, we won every game with 3 or more goals scored in every game. A lot of my league rivals went out early in the cup as the skill level between non-league and top flight is non-existent (any stats higher than 12 is highly unusual, and a lot of my players have 1s for things). The final itself started as fast, we managed to shoot 4 nil up in the first 15 mins, only to give away 2 in the next 10. The rest of the half was quiet, but we generally controlled play and early in the second half we put it to rest with another quick goal. In the end the game finished 6-2 to us - cup winners for the first time! I really don't think I will stick around in this league any longer, it is just so poor. Still I managed to win one top league, one domestic cup and manager of the year - hopefully that will manage to get me into a better league and potentially a bigish Chinese club and a push for their league and Champions League. Still the club are now a continental side, so the worst that can happen is I can some experience in that cup although I doubt we will go far as the side is just so The league table end of season Cup run Player of the year My profile a year in Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyAnger Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Update I applied for the Beijing job and was instantly sacked by Barito - I had promised to not apply for any more jobs (they made me say that in the interview a year ago), but still a bit harsh for someone that had just led them to the double! Did not manage to get the Beijing job either - in fact they laughed at me for applying... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Johnny Anger - Great progress. Wouldn't worry about being sacked. It will probably be easier to get another job now you're unemployed anyway. I wouldn't worry about not getting a job in Beijing either. The ability to breathe is always nice. I wouldn't have thought Barito were one of the top teams so I'm very impressed. Can't see your screenshots, but maybe it's just me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyAnger Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Thanks man, Barito won't one of the top sides but the gap in quality between the league is very small - once I figured out how to exploit the awful defence with three forwards they could not stop me! Unemployment was actually quite tough - I interviewed a few times, but no one took me seriously and being sacked from the previous job did not help one bit! Took me a while to get the next job, but I am in South Africa now with Baroka FC down in the bottom half of the first division (it was there or another job in Indonesia, but I think I was done there really). Again its a poor side, but the three forward trick from the last place is working like a wonder! I have managed to squeeze 18 goals and 8 assists in 19 games out of Tshepo Mothiba (huge talent!)- still I don't think we are going anywhere this season so it might just be a case of trying to land a bigger job off the back of a good run. Not sure whats up with the screen shots, I will try again with them perhaps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 So things have not really improved the last two matches the team lost 4-3 after a 2-0 lead and 3-2 after a 2 goal lead. The club is embroiled in a takeover anytime soon and equal on 9 points with the team that is bottom and we play them next. :o Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Two games to go and the team is 14th bottom two go down 15th, 16th ...Squeaky bum time..Fingers crossed...here we go! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Oh yes!!!!!!!. African Warriors survived finishing 14th and with the second worst goal difference in the league...I don't care! Insecure Finances and I don't care! We survived I care!. In all seriousness though looking at the teams situation overall and the poor performances throughout the season. I'm not going to have much leway and room to move so it looks like I will be moving on. But that's my next big question? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Vikeologist's 2022/23 Kaizer Chiefs (And China) End of South Africa (and China) Report So once again we met Orlando Pirates in the African Champions League. We reached the final by thumping everybody in our path. They squeaked in despite numerous losses and close calls along the way. Two years ago we nearly won. A year ago we should have won. We had to be the overwhelming favourite based on team strength, form and the sexiness of the respective team mangers, but I was a bag of nerves. My team was full of genuinely world class footballers who had understandably made it clear that they weren't planning on hanging around too much longer. I'd used handcuffs, whips, chains, and if the South African Police ever found my 'dungeon of love' I woul have had to leave the country pretty quickly. This time it had to count. My nerves weren't helped by a 2-2 draw in the first away leg. Thankfully the second leg, though I was always nervous that Pirates would score a couple of goals quickly and turn things around, was a much more one-sided affair ending 4-1 to us. So we did it; at last. Despite being in charge of a club with massively more resources than any of our rivals, it had taken me three and a half years, but now I'd won the league and Champions League, my work was done. Except that I had to hang around for my first World Club Championship (only a month after the ACL final). Of course the odds were against us, but we managed to beat Chivas (from Mexico) in the quarter final. The semi against Fluminese (Brazil) was a ding dong affair ending in a 6-5 loss after they were given two questionable penalties. To be fair, we were never ahead, but we put up a good fight. They then won the final against Barcelona 1-0, while we had a really easy victory over Shandong (China) to obtain third place. So now I can leave. well no, because my next match was a Super 8 Final, so I hung around for one more match just to pad up my Hall of Fame points total by a tiny amount and have one more game with the greatest bunch of lads in the world. I am Kaizer Chiefs till the end of time, or at least the end of normal time when having secured yet another trophy I quit. I had China, South Korea, Argentina and Mexico leagues loaded or pending. I was excited to see what job I could get, but first I had the Asian Cup with China, and the attendant pre-tournament friendlies. I wasn't enjoying managing China, but you know, since we were in the tournament, there was always the chance that we could go all the way. Except we didn't. We drew 0-0 with North Korea despite dominating the match from start to finish all the way up to but not including the couple of centimetres in front of their goal. We were comfortably 2-0 up against Tajikistan until we went down to 10 men because of injury with 10 minutes to go, at which point they pulled two goals back, (and ultimately lost in the final - you're welcome). Jordan beat us 2-0 in the final group stage match. We had finished bottom of the group, without a single victory. Under me China had fallen out of the top 100 nations in the world. On the bright side, I've made quite a lot of money from fixing matches for bookies from the Philippines, so you know glass half full. I was so sacked. I was immediately offered the newly vacant South Korea post, but I don't want to wait 4 year for the next Asian Cup. So now the job hunt could begin. I was offered the job at Shandong, (predicted to finish second in the league, and actually currently in 1st place on goal difference in my save) but having spanked them in the World Club Cup, I decided to hold out for something better. I really wanted to manage in China, but I think Guangzhou is the only option and that job didn't come up. Anyway, it took 6 months, but finally I found a job vacancy worthy of my particular set of skills. Seoul in South Korea. They're the second biggest side in South Korea, but South Korea is a much better league than China. They have a wage bill that needs to be drastically reduced as nearly half way through the season they are out of the Cup and Champions League. The only member of staff I inherited was a thankfully decent Head of Youth Development. They're currently in 4th place, and I need to finish in the top 4 to qualify for next season's Champions League. Hopefully I can take them all the way to my second continental trophy. Incidentally Kaizer Chiefs sold off all their world class players for absolute peanuts, and on average 10-20% of what I'd been offered for them. Challenge Progress South African domestic league South African FA Cup African Champions League Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Congratulations on survival, Streety. If my start of challenge is anything to go by, it is always possible to get a decent job at the start of the game, and should be possible for you now, but you have to be patient. all three times I've obtained new jobs, I had to wait about 6 months. Johnny Anger - Congrats on your good start with Baroka. In my save they were always a minnow, but I have a feeling that you're able to turn chaff into wheat. I have a horrible feeling that my time at Kaizer chiefs reveals me to have the polar opposite ability. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanlion28 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 enjoying reading all of your saves. Appreciate the effort from vikeologist with how in depth you are! keep it up! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 So having resigned from Africian Warriors it's time to find a new job Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Street takes charge of RC Strasbourg Alsace Wahoo I have a new job I'm off too France!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Vikeologist's 2022/23 Seoul End of Season Report A season that fluctuated between the boring and the interesting. Boring - I took over midway through the season, out of the Champions League and Korean Cup, a long way behind the league leaders, but safely in 4th spot, with 4 teams qualifying for next season's Champions League Interesting - Hold on. One of the CL slots goes to the Cup winner, and the 4 teams in the semi final were all not going to finish in the top 4. Boring -We moved into a comfortable top 3 place, and anyway a Korean side won the Champions League, so we'll probably be ok. Interesting - Hold on, again. We're now only 2 points behind the league leaders. We could actually win this thing. Interesting / Boring - 2 games to go. We're in 1st place, 3 points above the 2nd place team (Jeonnam) We're playing in our penultimate match. I expect we'll beat them and then things will be really boring for the last match of the season. Interesting - We lost 6-1 to Jeonnam. At home! So, now we're so far behind on goal difference we have to win our last match and hope that Jeonnam don't, (or win our last match by about 7 goals). Interesting /Agonising / Frustrating / Sphincter Clenching stressful. We win. Jeonnam draw. We are the league champions. In my first season. Yay me. Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Streety - A bit of a sleeping giant there. Good luck. Without knowing the details of your save, this seems like a good choice on your part. Johnny Anger - How's it going with Baroka? Looking forward to your next update. Warrooxford - Are you still doing this challenge? How's it going in Poland? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Right I am going to have a go at this. I will be reporting back with my team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Quick question lads for anyone who may know. In particular the writer of the thread. Does League Cups count as a trophy towards the 10 Domestic Cups? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Quick question lads for anyone who may know. In particular the writer of the thread. Does League Cups count as a trophy towards the 10 Domestic Cups? It's obviously up to 'Letsgetreadyto', but may I share what I'd like to be the ruling on this. I think that all cups where all the top division teams can enter should count. So, to use South Africa as an example, the FA Cup (open to all South African teams) and the Knockout Cup (only open to top division teams) should be eligible. The Super 8 Challenge (and Be the coach challenge)not because they're only open to some of the top division teams. Further I think that we should have to obtain cups from 10 different countries, so the League Cup would count as the domestic cup for England and subsequently winning the FA Cup doesn't count as a second domestic cup. If 'Letsgetreadyto' does see this, may I ask what the film reference is that you alluded to in the OP? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 It's obviously up to 'Letsgetreadyto', but may I share what I'd like to be the ruling on this.I think that all cups where all the top division teams can enter should count. So, to use South Africa as an example, the FA Cup (open to all South African teams) and the Knockout Cup (only open to top division teams) should be eligible. The Super 8 Challenge (and Be the coach challenge)not because they're only open to some of the top division teams. Further I think that we should have to obtain cups from 10 different countries, so the League Cup would count as the domestic cup for England and subsequently winning the FA Cup doesn't count as a second domestic cup. If 'Letsgetreadyto' does see this, may I ask what the film reference is that you alluded to in the OP? I would agree with most of that I would only perhaps change that say the League Cup and the FA Cup would count as two different trophies towards the 10. But obviously up to the writer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Yanbian FC - Chinese National Division 1 - Take Over Manager Profile 1 Manager Profile 2 Offer League Table This lot were the first to offer me a job. I decided that China was as good a place any to begin my career. The squad were not great but they were better than the position that they found themselves in. I was hopeful that I could stay with this team for a few years but first thing first is to move them away from the relegation zone. This years priority will be to stay up, nothing more nothing less. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 [ Yanbian FC – 2014- End of Season Update League : As you know when I took over the squad we were not in best of positions. I started with three defeats on the trot and to say that I was worried was an understatement, we seemed to be miles behind everyone else. I continued with the tactics that I was playing and the team that I was playing and it seemed too work as we only lost 2 of our next 5 games, although we did only win one. We finished the season a lot better as we won 6 of our last 12 games to secure our position in this league. Chinese FA Cup : Won first game against relegation candidates. Then I got smashed. Transfers : Three players were added to provide more depth to the squad. They all had a fair few games and will certainly play a part next year for us. Finances : As ever terrible. Stars Cui Min – Not the best player but consistent. He played a fair few games and being able to be decent across multiple positions certainly helped his cause. He certainly over performed. Cho Zhinggugo – Decent enough player for us. Really strong and solid in the middle of park. Serge Gosse – Great season for the best striker in the squad did really well and could play for a much better team. Career Summary Season Team League Position Achievements --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Yanbian Chinese National First 12th Survival Next Season Really I have to kick on from this year. I would like to get around the 5th-9th spots to show some improvement. I will of course need more players in the off season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 [ Yanbian FC – 2015- Sacked Well I didn't do well here. Despite being 2nd in the league the board decided to get rid of me. I applied for jobs with Bejing and Kaiser Cheifs this was seemingly a mistake as they bulleted me. In hindsight I should not have done it but I needed a bigger team to complete my goals, the Bejing job I was listed as being an option so I thought I would go for it. . Still pretty annoyed with myself. Career Summary Season Team League Position Achievements --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014 Yanbian Chinese National First 12th Survival 2015 Yanbian Chinese National First 2nd Sacked in May Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Right so after being unemployed for three years I have decided to restart using the same profile and stuff. I will re-upload everything after the first season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Ashton - Are you planning to start with a higher reputation / top division team this time? When people start this challenge it would be interesting to read which teams they reject, or are rejected by. Kaizer Chiefs will always be a tough gig to get. I mean, I got it eventually, but as mentioned above, they turned me down the first time even though I thought I had a pretty strong record at the time. My (unsolicited) advice would be to start with a mid-range top division side in nations such as China or South Africa, in the hope that you can either develop them into contenders or get a top job afterwards. Applying for jobs that you stand no chance for is a real problem, as it can definitely be held against you either straight away or in the future. I think applying for jobs with the like of England or Brazil was a bad move. It's a judgement call deciding at what stage of the challenge you can make your move for a potential World Cup winning nation. The international side of things is definitely going to be the hard part. I am so gutted that I didn't spot when the South Africa job became available. At the same time, I didn't really want to be subscribed to every nation and get updates for every match they played. The other side of things is when you apply for a club job, and they wet themselves with excitement at having a manager of your calibre. This is what happened with me when I applied for Shandong. I thought, hmm, if they're that keen to get me, maybe I can do better. Sorry if people find all this tactical discussion of the challenge boring, but I think that job decisions are even more important for this challenge than what you actually do when you have a job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 I am trying to go to a mid range league. I will be getting something up hopefully this evening Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Villa 2000 FC - Indonesian Premier Division 1 - Take Over Manager Profile 1 Manager Profile 2 Offer So in my second attempt in this I am off to Indonesia luckily enough I have managed a bag a job for the start of the year with a second division team. Looks like a small team in this league so I may have issues. I am hoping to get mid table in my first year and then go from there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashton321 Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 [ Villa 2000 – 2014/15- End of Season Update League1 / League : The League was very good as we were always near the top of the First Stage. We secured our place with a great run of form towards the end of the regular season. This was then continued into the Second Phase which we really won without incident. Two wins and a draw were enough to secure our passage into the final which we won with relative ease. Indonesian FA Cup : We won our first game against a lower league side. We then faced the top division side and were let down by a poor first leg. Transfers : Busy not all players played too much but will all be here for the future as they are all very good. Finances : Not bad, we were saved by the prize money at the end of the year. Stars Risdianto – Great striker. He was injured throughout the season but when he played he was excellent. I would hope he will be good enough to play at a higher level. Ade Iwan Setiawan – One of my better players and he was excellent throughout the season down the right hand side. A real star for us. M. Alfat Rusdi – Another striker who had injury problems this year. If he stayed fit he would have been excellent for us. Career Summary Season Team League Position Achievements --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014/15 Villa 2000 Indonesian Premier 2nd Champions Next Season From the outset one thing I will need to do is to improve the squad. We have a very young team that is without much depth, this will need to change as we move into the Super League. I would like to bring in at least two new strikers and a defender or two. It will be busy Trophy Cabinet Season Team Trophy --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2014/15 Villa 2000 Indonesian Premier Champions Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeedsUnitedForLife Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 giving this a go got spain england scotland italy france and german loaded to start with Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Vikeologist's 2024 Seoul End of Season Report This was all set to be a fairly boring report, but I wouldn't do that to you. We were knocked out of the Champions League in the second round by another Korean side. We won the FA Cup (another part of the challenge completed) against another Korean side (Suwon Samsung) who had just won the Champions League. In the league we were one of 5 teams who broke away from everybody else early on. The trouble was that only 4 teams qualify for the Champions League(and one of those goes to the FA Cup winners). In the end with 2 games to go we had locked up a top 3 place (and of course had won the FA Cup anyway) but were 5 points behind Suwon Samsung in top place. However we had to play the top 2 clubs in our last two games so it wasn't impossible. We beat Suwon in our penultimate game, so now we were only 2 points behind, but with a much worse goal difference, so we needed to win our last game against Jeonbuk and hope that Suwon lost. As matter of fact Jeonbuk were in much the same position, but needed to beat us by about 3 or 4 goals (+ a Suwon loss). Unfortunately Suwon went ahead early on in their game, and were at home, so their losing looked unlikely. I was 2-0 up, but, instead of locking up the shop and taking the victory, I decided to go for it and try to beat Jeonbuk by the 7 goal margin we would need if Suwon ended up drawing. A big mistake. With both of us trying to beat each other by a wide margin ourmatch against Jeonbuk ended up 6-5; to them.:o But it really didn't matter because Suwon were ahead throughout their match. Until, and you knew this was coming. They conceded 2 late goals and lost the match in the final minutes. If we'd just secured the narrow win we'd have been the league champions. But we weren't the league champions. Jeonbuk weren't the league champions (on goal difference). Suwon were. So a couple of interesting things happened. First the Jeonbuk manager was sacked. Jeonbuk are the richest club in the league (their salary total is almost twice ours) but you know, they lost the league on goal difference after having not even qualified for the Champions league the previous season. the Jeonbuk board are the most idiotic, short-sighted, ungrateful bunch of delusional club owners in Korean football; or at least would be if not for my own board who decided to call me in for crisis talks because all I'd ever done for them in my first season and a half was win the league and FA Cup for the first time in over a decade. After I pointed out, I think entirely fairly, that they won't be able to get a better manager than me, they demanded that I get 10 points from the first 5 games of next season, and my first instinct was ' You do know that that you're only the 2nd richest club, and that the richest one has a job vacancy'. I decided to sleep on my decision, (in the middle of the crisis board meeting. I guess they thought I was in the toilet for 10 hours) but fully intending to quit and apply for the Jeonbuk job. I'd scouted their whole squad during the season looking for talent, and they had plenty of it, plus money. Plus they wouldn't sack me 5 games into next season. However, I didn't want to throw away all that I've built up at Seoul. We have lots of good young players, and if I do end up getting sacked, well, there's plenty of other countries with domestic trophies to win, while the only thing left to achieve in Korea now is the Champions League. Of course there's a fairly good chance that we will get the required 10 points at the start of next season. the fixtures are out and we do have a fairly easy start to the season. Incidentally, even though I stayed at Seoul, Jeonbuk did invite me for an interview. Ah, the road not taken. Oh, and I took the job of Brazil Under 23 manager for the Olympics, but was knocked out in the semi-final. I've applied several times for top international jobs and am still getting laughed at. I was offered (without applying) Sweden and (I think) Denmark, but I'm not interested in just getting to the next world Cup. I want a chance of winning it, so I guess I'm going to be watching it on TV; again. As I've said before, the international side of this challenge is going to be the tough part, unless once /(if) I get all the domestic ones I can carry on as just an international manager for the hundred or so years it will probably take (which I'd imagine would be pretty boring, and I don't know how ageist the top nations will be about employing a manager in his hundreds). 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league 2024 Seoul / Brazil U23 3rd Won FA Cup 2nd domestic cup Challenge Progress: 2 domestic leagues, 2 domestic cups, African Champions League Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 So, I lost 2 of my first 3 league games, which resulted in the sack. It turns out that moving to Jeonbuk would have been a better option, as they have stormed away with the league under the leadership of their second choice manager. I wasn't that bothered. I was looking forward to doing my thing in another league. It seemed to take an eternity for any decent jobs to come up, but actually I think it was the customary 5-6 months of save-time. The job that I eventually applied for and accepted was Cruz Azul in Mexico. The thing about Mexico is that in theory (unless I misunderstand) I can win both the Libertadores and North American Champions League in one swoop. First though I might need to win a league game. (We currently have 2 points from our first 4 or 5 matches). The team is really bad. Not just the team; the coaches, facilities. Everything basically. I took over after one league game (which they'd lost) and so without a preseason, I am desperately trying to scout Mexican players and come to terms with the league and cup rules and systems. However, as long as I can finish somewhere in the top half of the table I should survive the first season and build from there. I've signed one player who's made a great start. I've switched goalkeepers. I only have two, and they're both Mexican internationals. (I mean about 4 caps between them). The nominal starter was as much use in goal as tissue paper. The shots may not have literally gone through him, but they certainly went through his legs, hands and any other utterly useless part of his body. However, the second choice goalie seems much better. It's the way with this challenge. Initial optimism gives way to horror at the mess you've inherited. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LetsGetReadyTo Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 So, I lost 2 of my first 3 league games, which resulted in the sack. It turns out that moving to Jeonbuk would have been a better option, as they have stormed away with the league under the leadership of their second choice manager. I wasn't that bothered. I was looking forward to doing my thing in another league. It seemed to take an eternity for any decent jobs to come up, but actually I think it was the customary 5-6 months of save-time. The job that I eventually applied for and accepted was Cruz Azul in Mexico. The thing about Mexico is that in theory (unless I misunderstand) I can win both the Libertadores and North American Champions League in one swoop. First though I might need to win a league game. (We currently have 2 points from our first 4 or 5 matches). The team is really bad. Not just the team; the coaches, facilities. Everything basically. I took over after one league game (which they'd lost) and so without a preseason, I am desperately trying to scout Mexican players and come to terms with the league and cup rules and systems. However, as long as I can finish somewhere in the top half of the table I should survive the first season and build from there. I've signed one player who's made a great start. I've switched goalkeepers. I only have two, and they're both Mexican internationals. (I mean about 4 caps between them). The nominal starter was as much use in goal as tissue paper. The shots may not have literally gone through him, but they certainly went through his legs, hands and any other utterly useless part of his body. However, the second choice goalie seems much better. It's the way with this challenge. Initial optimism gives way to horror at the mess you've inherited. So glad you're enjoying it! This year, my FM seems far too unstable to last 10 years! I'm giving it another go though, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
streety Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Trying to build a decent squad at Strasbourg but the quality of young French players is appalling. I'm relying on my 35 yr old goalkeeper and just to make matters worse a key player has just come to me wanting to leave.. I have a distinct feeling my first jaunt to France in FM might be short-lived. Pre Season update to follow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Vikeologist's 2025-6 Mexican First Division End of Season Report I guess I should warn you at the start that this is a bit of a crazy arse update. Frankly the Mexican league system and rules have taken a bit of figuring out, and that figuring process is ongoing. To best understand this update I suggest that you either research the league system on Wikipedia or take some hallucinatory drugs. The end result will feel much the same. Before I took over, Cruz Azul had won the Mexican SuperCup thus ensuring that they'd be in the Copa Libertadores in the second half of the season. On the other hand, under my management in my first season, Cruz Azul only finished 9th in the League Opening Stage, thus missing out on the league playoff for the tile that only the top 8 teams qualify for. On the other hand we did win the FA Cup Opening Stage. On the other hand we did lose the first two games of the League Closing Stage On the other hand; well there was no other hand. the board called me in for crisis talks due to the team's underperformance. I asked for more time, but they just sacked me. Frankly it was a mercy killing, and I wasn't all that upset. As I have mentioned my 2 goalkeepers were rubbish. One was rubbish according to the scout and coaching reports, the other was rubbish based on the kind of performances that a blind arthritic grannie might put in. But I couldn't get another decent goalie. I didn't have the money to buy a better goalie, and it would have taken my entire transfer fund to buy someone who one day may have been better. I had a full compliment of foreign players, including one very highly paid but useless striker that I couldn't offload. I did buy one foreign player (who is on the 3 player shortlist for league player of the season), which meant that the aforementioned striker was now no longer even registered, but still pulling in a huge salary, still crap and still unsellable. The only reason I had any transfer funds at all was because my star striker was snatched up at Christmas by a league rival (Monterrey) because he had a minimum release clause in his contract. So to be honest I was a bit surprised, but not devastated at my sudden sacking. The 2 league games we lost at the start of the season were to teams that were expected to finish (and indeed did) in the bottom half of the table. Quick postscript on Cruz Azul. Without me they have reached the quarter finals of the Copa Libertadores. Maybe they'll win it. (They won't. They're playing River). So I needed a new job, and for 4 months nothing came up. Then there was a board takeover at Chivas (also from the Mexican league) and the manager was sacked. This was a bit harsh, because they had finished 2nd in the league stage and were in the Closing Stage semi-final. Hello, Gift Horse. You may have a mouth, but I wouldn't know because on principle I never look in that direction. I applied for the job is what I'm saying. I thought it would be nice if I got the job before the semi-final stages, but no decision. Over the two legs they reached the final (totally level on aggregate but they progressed because they'd finished higher in the league stage). Then I had the job interview. I was still a spectator for the first leg of the final against Monterray, (which Chivas won 2-1 at home).. Then at midday of the day of the second leg, I was offered the job, seven hours before the final match of the season. Let me clarify what was going on. I was going to be manager for the last match of the season. If we won or drew, I would win the Mexican league. It would have been thoroughly undeserved of course. I mean I decided to deliberately copy the team selection and team tactics that the team was most accustomed to, as it would have been disastrous to implement my tactics. No manager in the history of football could have been a less deserving winner of the league, having done absolutely nothing. In the seven hours before the match I met the squad for a morale boosting team meeting; (I'm The Vikeologist. Who the hell are you?) I met the press; (a 65 minute rant about my anger at the Cruz Azul board before I was dragged away swearing and kicking). Before the match I went to the dressing room to get my team pumped up. 'Clear Minds Full hearts Can't Lose'. Then I realised from their confused expressiins that it was the Monterrey team and I was in the wrong dressing room. Anyway the game went to extra time where we lost. I'm going to have to earn that third league title for the challenge. However, let's not forget my third domestic cup from Cruz Azul. Aims for next season. Let's be honest. not being sacked again would be nice. However we are going to be in both the North American Champions League (by far the more winnable competition for Mexican sides who win it almost every season) and the Libertadores. At least I think we'll be in both competitions. I really don't understand the Mexican league system. Challenge Progress 2 domestic league 3 domestic cups African Champions League Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league 2024 Seoul / Brazil U23 3rd Won FA Cup 2nd domestic cup 2025 Cruz Azul 9th Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked. 3rd domestic cup 2026 Chivas 2nd Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Vikeologist - Your passion for this challenge is fantastic!! Currently I'm enjoying a Burnley save, but think the sack is imminent. Therefore, I'm after a new "career" This challenge looks extremely interesting (and obviously challenging) So......if I start, it appears that most people load up the South African League and an Asian League (or two) - is there any reason for this?? Also, I read earlier in the thread about "ticking" a box where you add/delete leagues as you go along - is this as simple as it seems?? By that, I mean if I only loaded the African and Chinese leagues (for example) if I've completed those, could I then delete the African legue and add Argentina, Brazil, Peru?? (for example) Cheers!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 3 lionsetc Yes, you can just add and delete leagues as you go. I've been doing a bit of this and have encountered no problems. (If anyone started this from the Beta, they would have had problems in South America, but I don't think there's any problems with the release version onwards. I hope that there's lots of ways of going about this challenge, but the leagues in China and South Africa have a big advantage; namely that you can get a first job at a top division team that stands a (small) chance at winning something. Admittedly when you get the job, it's likely that the only immediate chance you'll have is to avoid relegation. You probably won't get the first job you apply for. It's possible that this has been made harder in recent updates, but I doubt it. When I started I had a plan (Africa, Asia, Central / South America, then lastly Europe) which I've stuck to, but I'll have to go back to Asia at some point to win the Asian Champions League. I don't know what kind of job one could get in Central or South America to start off with. I think Mexico might be a good place to start if you can get a top division job, because there's such a huge chance of winning the North American Champions League and an outside one of the Libertadores. plus there's two league championships a year with no one dominant club. I guess it depends whether your aim is to do as much of the challenge as possible, or (like me) to do it all which I think will take 2 years. Every single decision I take, and every job I apply for, is to do the challenge, but is a big challenge, and the reason I'm doing ok (or was doing ok) was because in my first 2 seasons I avoided relegation and won the South African FA Cup. Without both those things happening I probably wouldn't have been able to get better jobs. At the risk of being contentious, I think if one means to actually achieve this challenge, starting with a lesser team than you need to is crazy. On the other hand, it would be a pity if (just because I'm the most common poster) others thought that mine was the best way to do the challenge. I'd love to see posts by people by do the challenge a completely different way. I say I was doing better because I was nearly sacked for the third time in a row because the top clubs don't have much in the way of patience, especially when they're the defending champions when you take over). I was given a 9 points in 5 games ultimatum by the board, but for the first time ever I met the target (with a game to spare). Nonetheless, my reputation is noticeably lower now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Vikeologist's 2026-7 Chivas First Division End of Season Report This season I was nearly sacked twice, and as a result of the second board ultimatum, will have to meet a points target again at the start of next season. What did I do to deserve this? Well, I won the North American Champions League (beating Monterrey), and lost in the semi-final (to Monterrey) and final (to Monterrey) of the two league halves. I actually finished top of the closing stage table (immediately ahead of Monterrey).. To be fair this doesn't tell the whole story. When I took over the club were reigning league champions, (for about 8 hours till we lost last year's final to Monterrey). In the opening stage we only finished 6th, thus not qualifying for the Libertadores. The club is close to going into administration due to the crippling wage bill. (I inherited a group of has-beens on very high contracts, and had to keep them as they would have been too expensive to replace). I'm still a little annoyed though. We were top of the closing stage throughout, except for one moment when we went into second place on goal difference. That was when the board decided to call me in for crisis talks and gave me the ultimatum (again). I'm probably going to resign and find another job. My main purpose for coming to Mexico was to win the NACL, as it's a competition I had to win for the challenge. The only things left to win are the league and the Libertadores, which I'll stand a better chance with in Brazil or Argentina. When I took over Chivas I was excited to see that they had no non-Mexicans, which was good news for me as the domestic rules state that you can have 5 of them in your squad. I didn't realise that Chivas have a no foreign nationals policy, which is a pretty big handicap. I also noticed that Chivas had one of the larger salaries per season of the 1st division clubs. It turns out that doesn't mean they can afford to have that high a wage bill. The question is where to go next. I don't have Brazil or Argentina loaded, and there's over 6 months till the load date for them. The leagues I have loaded are South Korea (and I'd only be going there for the Asian Champions League) and China (Guangzhou are almost bankrupt and they turned me down this last season when I applied to them, although that was before the NACL win). The league load dates for Australia and Europe come up soon. I guess I could go to France, as I need to win that league some time. I could wait to see if America (Mexico) sack their manager (for not doing as well as Monterrey and Chivas). I could stay with Chivas, sell all the players on high wages, and see if the youngsters I've signed can help me get the points I need at the start of next season to not get sacked. I usually have a plan, but I'm not entirely sure what to do next. Oh, by the way, I'm now the manager of Ivory Coast. I'm putting next to no effort in. I let the Assistant Manager choose the squads. I have no idea who the players are. There's 4 called Diallo and 3 called Kone. Maybe it's Bush / Clinton dynasty type thing, or maybe the entire squad is just 2 or 3 extended families. Nothing to report here till the next African Cup of Nations, by which time the South Africa side (composed almost entirely of ex-Kaiser Chief players) might not be so dominant. Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league 2024 Seoul / Brazil U23 3rd Won FA Cup 2nd domestic cup 2025 Cruz Azul 9th Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked. 3rd domestic cup 2026 Chivas 2nd Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final. 26/27 Chivas /Ivory Coast 6th/1st Won NACL. Lost Closing stage final of Mexican 1st Div (again) NACL Challenge Progress African Champions League North American Champions League 2 domestic leagues 3 domestic cups Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Right...... I'm in!! I've loaded up the following leagues - South Africa China Mexico Australia With a large database. Profile Profile 2 And I was off!! Applied for loads of jobs which came up, mostly in the top divisions, such as this one but was ultimately unsuccessful - managed to get a few interviews, but lots of clubs didn't even let me get that far!! I was about to change my idea and accept a job from any division, but then Platinum Stars from South Africa gave me an interview and ultimately gave me a job!! (No screenshot - I got too giddy and forgot to take one!!) So, there is half the season remaining and I've just now entered the transfer window - which will be interesting as I've got a £40k wage budget and the club is already spending £41k........I do, however have around £500k transfer budget which I think I'll have to adjust. The players seem a bunch of proper mard arses, taking any opportunity to question my authority - but then again, I suppose I'd be pretty razzed off if I was being told what to do by a 20 year old!! But, football is a results driven business and so far I've played 2 and won 2 - a last minute victory in my first match was sweet, then beating Ajax 2-0 was a bonus for me after they turned me down!! I've so far struggled to get into FM15........I think this may just be the challenge which will get me gripped (I hope so!!) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBC#1 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I am giving this a go! Starting in my homeplace of Ireland and after I win the top league here I will load other leagues. This could take a while.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Good luck, both of you. 3L1G (as you'd be called if you were a boyband), I'm quite envious. I don't think I've ever won the first 2 matches with a new club. Were Platinum Stars in relegation trouble when you took over? (not that it will matter if you keep winning). The good thing about South Africa is that there are so many cups, though you may only be in one if PS finished in the bottom half the previous season. JCB - Hope you get a good job / win the league / update soon. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EunByuL Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Note: This seems like a fun challenge and I've been wanting to try a Journeyman/Unemployed save for a while now, so I guess i'll give this a try. I hope my tendency to get attached to the club I manage doesn't interfere too much with this challenge. I also hope I don't get bored of this save because there's so much to achieve in this challenge. Wish me luck! Starting database Kim Ro-Man Profile Jomo Cosmos announcement 18/12/2014 Kim Ro-Man (김로만) takes charge at South-African club Jomo Cosmos. Kim joined mid-season as the club found themselves in third position on the South-African Premier Division league table. However other clubs all followed within 3 points of Jomo Cosmos. With over 15 more games to be played in the Premier Division and the current state of the league anything can happen. Kim's career at Jomo Cosmos started off rough in the backroom as the club's only Scout 'Macdonald Makhubedu' is poached by ABSA Premiership club SuperSport Utd. Kim won't be able to replace Macdonald as Jomo Cosmos has a clause preventing any backroom staff additions. South-African Premier Division Table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 Good luck, both of you.3L1G (as you'd be called if you were a boyband), I'm quite envious. I don't think I've ever won the first 2 matches with a new club. Were Platinum Stars in relegation trouble when you took over? (not that it will matter if you keep winning). The good thing about South Africa is that there are so many cups, though you may only be in one if PS finished in the bottom half the previous season. JCB - Hope you get a good job / win the league / update soon. "3L1G" - yeah, that has a certain ring to it, I'm more than happy with that reference!! When I took over at Platinum, they were hovering around the relegation places, I've won more games than I've lost and with 8 games to go, I think I'll achieve the mid-table position that the board were after. I was entered into the SA FA Cup, but lost in the first round - luckily the board are not judging me in that competition. Hopefully I'll get my first season finished tomorrow evening, so will post a review afterwards.......quite enjoying this at the moment!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 Vikeologist's 2027 Chivas First Division Opening Stage Report Just a quick update, (otherwise I'll forget what happened). I finished 5th in the Opening Stage, but lost in the semi-finals of the playoff. The board gave me another ultimatum at this point, which I accepted just so we could take part in the World Club Championship. When we lost in the quarter-final of that competition (which to be fair was of course the first match) to Jeonbuk, I quit as I always intended to. Quick moan - I am fed up with Mexican sides. In 3 seasons with Cruz Azul (a year and a half) I won the FA Cup and league, and was sacked. In 3 seasons and 7 hours with Chivas we had 2 league playoff finals and 2 semi-finals, plus of course we won the NACL, (for which I was nearly sacked 3 times). Neither of these sides are anywhere near the biggest sides in Mexico, and I coped with the problems I inherited quite well. Since leaving they've both done very well; their star players being the very few ones I could afford to bring in. Chivas was a total mess financially. The players were overpaid, on ridiculous yearly increases and thus understandably not keen to go to other teams who were only prepared to pay them what they were worth. Chivas actually made quite a bit of money from the World Club Championship (thanks to me) and will make more next year due to winning the NACL again (thanks to me). Anyway, I was utterly fed up with getting sacked from clubs before I have a chance to work my vikacadabra, so I took a job with Dalian (A'erbin) in China which will be where I live in 5 days time IRL. Of course the problem with that is that I might have got relegated / sacked before I actually moved there in real life. At the start of the ghame Dalian are quite a good club (I really wanted to manage them at the start of the challenge but they weren't even slightly interested). How things have changed. They've been relegated twice and have lost half their fans. When I took them over they were just freshly promoted to the top division and utter minnows. I am of course on my way to being a legend, but I'm happy to drop down to their level just to enjoy the game for a while. Hopefully I can win the league, and maybe even the Champions League with them, but at the moment they're a big drop down. It's the football manager version of a Star is Born. Chinese clubs are allowed to have 4 non-Asian players in the side (though only 3 in the first 11) and I have signed 6 very promising Ivorian players. They were keen to come given that I am the Ivory Coast manager. As soon as they started arriving on trials the average ratings for the Chinese players I inherited dropped from an average of about 4 to an average of 0.5, which I think put their respective abilities into context. Having an international job (even if it's at youth / Olympic level) is a huge advantage in this game, even if the competitions you take part in aren't part of the ones you need to win for the challenge. Season Team Position Notes Challenge Landmarks 14/15 Swallows(South Africa) 14th Took over after 14 (of 30)games in 16th bottom position. Dodged relegation. 15/16 Swallows 12th South African FA Cup winner. Continental qualification. 1 domestic cup 16/17 Swallows 3rd Champions League qualification 17/18 Swallows 3rd 18/19 Swallows & Kaizer Chiefs2nd Quit Swallows mid-season. Took over Kaiser Chiefs with 9 games of the season left 19/20 Kaizer Chiefs/ChU23 2nd Won 2 domestic cups. 20/21 Kaizer Chiefs / China 2nd Lost in Champions League Final on away goals 21/22 Kaizer Chiefs/China 1st Lost in Champions league semi-final. Won 36 straight matches and East Asia Cup 1 domestic league 22/23 Kaizer Chiefs/ China n/a Won African Champions League. Humiliated nation of China. African Champions League 2023 Seoul 1st Won South Korean League 2nd domestic league 2024 Seoul / Brazil U23 3rd Won FA Cup 2nd domestic cup 2025 Cruz Azul 9th Won FA Cup (Opening Stage). Then I was sacked. 3rd domestic cup 2026 Chivas 2nd Manager for one match. Lost title in extra time of 2nd leg of league final. 26/27 Chivas /Ivory Coast 6th/1st Won NACL. Lost Closing stage final of Mexican 1st Div (again) NACL 27 Chivas / Iveory Coast 5th Lost in Opening Stage semi-final and resigned after CWC Q/F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 Platinum Stars - End of Season 2014/15 Final table Transfers Board Confidence So, not that much to report really. Managed to attain mid table security which is what the board were after, but struggled to get any consistency. Had a lot of high scoring games and often conceded late goals which was very frustrating. Whether I need to get a better fitness coach is something I need to look at. In fact, that's my intention this close season, to improve the backroom staff where possible. Unfortunately it's difficult to attract anybody of any real calibre. But, I'm sure it will be worth it!! So, I inherited Platinum Stars half way through a season and while I was in charge, I managed to win more games than I lost. Hopefully if I can get a couple of good signings, have a good pre-season, I'll improve on our league position......I'm aiming high - I want a top three finish!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArBee23 Posted February 28, 2015 Share Posted February 28, 2015 Hi guys great challenge, I think I inadvertently started this challenge without realising. I apologise for starting with such a long post but I wanted to catch up before going forward. You might think I started too high up, I have a bit of a poor laptop so loaded Australia and South Korean leagues as I have never managed in these countries. I started unemployed and after a little bit I got the job at Gwangju in the South Korean K League Challenge (2nd Division) they were languishing at the bottom of the league with about 7 games to go, I managed to get them up to 8th out of 10 but couldn't really do much more. 2014/15 Season - 2015/16 Season - The second season the board set me barely no expectations but after signing a few players including a couple of Brazilians, Wander Luiz and the legendary 36 year old Kleberson haha. Kleberson was solid but not great Wander Silva was a revelation finishing the season with 19 Assists and 8 goals from AMC. I also inherited a Brazilian called Fabio Neves who is a legend, I'll be buying a shirt with his name on for the things he's done for me. He finished this season with 24 goals and 17 assists! As a team we beat all expectations and finished 3rd which put us into the playoffs where I played the semi final against 4th place then played the final against the team that finished 2nd. Right there I thought, awesome I'm promoted! Not yet. I had to play against the team that finished 11th in the K League Classic. I hammered them 8-3 on aggregate and thus was promoted to the K League Classic. 2016/17 Season - My first season in the K League Classic was tough, I had the expectation to avoid relegation and at times I thought I wouldn't as the standard was a fair amount higher. I made a few signings of some random South Koreans and also signed Albanian Hamdi Salihi as a striker. It was tough in the league and I had random results where I would lose one game 5-1 and win the next 4-0 crazy season but I managed to finish 8th of 12 and avoided relegation. This season was memorable for one reason though the FA Cup, I gnawed my way to the final beating the best team in South Korea, Seoul in the quarter final and oddly played the team 11th placed in the league in the final and won it. The best part of this is that winning the FA Cup grants you a place in the Asian Champions League! Aside from the Seoul game that I scraped through the rest of the cup run was surprisingly easy. Great season and my best players were, Hamdi Salihi with 23 goals and 10 assists and again, Fabio Neves with 19 goals ad 18 assists. Wander Luiz was good too with 11 goals and 11 assists. 2017/18 Season - My 4th season in charge is amazing, one of my best achievements ever on football manager, and it all started with a worry, three of my best players got called up to nearly two years of military service so I couldn't play them. And financially the club were struggling so I didn't have much money to replace them with. The league season was challenging but this year I was winning games I was losing the year before I was in the top 3 for the whole season but only 1st for two short periods. going into the last game of the season I was tied on 80 points with Seoul who as a club were worth 204 Milion compared to my club value of 2.4 million! On the last day I hammered my opponent 3-0 and Seoul lost 2-0 and I won the league amazingly! I also retained the FA Cup by beating Seoul in the final by a single goal in extra time. The most amazing part of the season was my performance in the Asian Champions League (I've never played this tournament before but it was surprisingly easy) I won 5 of 6 group games losing the other. I then beat Al Hilal in the 2nd round 4-3 on aggregate, next up were Al Nassr who I beat 5-3 on aggregate, in the semi final I played Suwon from the K League so was quite confident having beaten them in the league, I also won in the Champions League 5-4 on aggregate. Then in the final I played Al Ahli and beat them 3-2 on aggregate. There it was I won the Asian Champions league within 4 seasons! By winning this I was entered into the Club World Championship, I drew Melbourne Victory who I beat 2-1, I then played Velez Sarsfield who took me to penalties but I managed to beat them to get into the final against Cruz Azul. A very tough game which I sadly lost 3-2 after extra time! I was gutted but impressed with my players efforts. Stand out performers were, you guessed it Fabio Neves with 35 goals and 17 assists, Hamdi Salihi with 30 goals and 17 assists and Wander Luiz with 7 goals and 22 assists. Amazing trio. I finished up the season and resigned from my (now) beloved Gwangju! I sat without a job for about a month and the position at Tigres UANL in Mexico. 2017/18 Season - Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
threelions1goal Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Great post ArBee23!! You seem to have got the hang of things pretty well. However I noticed in your 2016/17 season, you struggled for consistency - just as likely to win 5-1 then lose 4-0. This is exactly what's happening with me at the moment. Annoying isn't it!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArBee23 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 Absolutely Threelions1goal! Really strange, my tactic creates lots of chances (The lowest being 14 shots in a game) but I seemed to concede a lot I I went on an 18 game unbeaten run at one point and then lost to the bottom team. How is it in Africa? Similar? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArBee23 Posted March 1, 2015 Share Posted March 1, 2015 I also have an update. 2017/18 Season - I inherited a Tigres side that had done poorly in the opening season and were in 8th place when I took over. I quickly got to grips with them and managed to churn out some wins I pushed them up to 5th place and into the playoffs where I went out in the first round against America. I did however have a great cup run and won the Mexican Cup Closing Stage. Not 100% sure how this works but nice to win something quickly. I have my eye on some players for when the window opens but my best players at the moment are my pretty wonderful goalkeeper Nahuel Guzman, Midfield Dynamo Jorge Espericueta, AMC Danilinho, signing I made Denis and striker Andres Renteria. Overall it was a promising start and my team seem to have slotted into my formation nicely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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