The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge - Silver Age Archive

[fiz]

Well I'm sacked from Port Vale. Any trophies for most sackings??

Anyway my question is has anyone played with Ajax CT? Have an offer from them in my inbox.

[TheEarl]

fiz bad luck with Port Vale. I am not sure if anyone has ever managed Ajax CT in this challenge, but it wouldn't surprise me as a lot of people tend to start in South Africa. And sooner or later thats a country everyone need to manage in as African Champions League is one of the requirements.

[lewis999]

Lewis; Bouncing straight back up to League 1 would be a great start alright, should get you on song with the board aswell and help ya start to build up some rep. Best of luck with it.

Lost my first game to Chesterfield 1-0 after dominating the whole game. A few players didn't listen to me in team talks which might be an issue going forward. Just want this season over and done with.

EDIT : Won my final game 4-0 so can enter the summer feeling a bit more confident. If I manage to keep all the team together I have no doubt I will be in the top 3 automatic spots.

[fiz]

I think I've been lazy with adding talents to my team and that's where my sackings are coming from. I'll spend more time on that with Ajax CT. Any tips for finding players? Most everyones attributes range 6-7 points and thorough scouting takes a while which is hard at the beginning of a club

[lewis999]

Oh no, 3 of my best players are wanting out already . This is going to be tough.

[TheEarl]

The Earls Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

2019/20 - Glasgow Rangers - Scottish Championship (Tier 2)

After the season with Falkirk it could seem intriguing to stay on and fight in the Premiership with them, but having experienced a similar position at Den Bosch I searched for a new club to manage yet again. And just as I thought before last season the manager of Glasgow Rangers got sacked. I applied for the job and got it. This meant going back to Championship once again. But wow what a difference. Around 35.000 spectators would greet me at Ibrox every home game, and the club had a budget 5 times that of Falkirk.

For once I didn't have to rely so heavily on loanees, even though a few of them was brought in. Graham Kavanagh from Crystal Palace being the most important in midfield. The club had managed to retain Lee Wallace at left back, which left me with the best full back not only in championship, but possibly in all of scottish league football. I had a budget that made it possible to sign quite a few players also, most of them around the 100K mark. Frank Mulheron a striker bought from Leeds for 150K was the most important player I bought.

Once again Ramsdens Cup was no luck for me. We won the first round 4-1 at home to Stanraer, but lost on penalties after 3-3 at home to Dumbarton in the second round.

The league started far better with 5-3-0 in the first 8 games. By then we had progressed two rounds in the League Cup as well, winning 2-0 against Queens Park in the first round, and 3-1 against Queen of the South in the second round. But in the third round it was stop against St.Johnstone 1-3 a.e.t.

In the following 20 games in the league, we won 16 and lost 4, which left us comfortably at the top of the table. We entered the Scottish Cup in the 4th round, and won 2-1 away to Kilmarnock. In the 5th round we played the game of the season winning 9-2 away to Queen of the South. But in the Quarter Final it was a disappointing stop 0-0 at home to Cowdenbeath was followed by a loss 1-2 in the replay away.

We finished off the season just ok with 2-1-2 in the last 5 games, which gave us this final league table:

1. Rangers -36-25-4-7-91-43-79 (winners and promoted)

2. Hibernian -36-18-9-9-62-41-63 (playoffs)

3. St.Mirren -36-17-7-12-53-31-58 (playoffs)

4. Ross County-36-16-10-10-58-49-58 (playoffs and promoted)

Top goalscorer Frank Mulhern - 31 goals (in just 32 games, signed from Leeds)

Top performer Lee Wallace - 8,12 Av.rat (left back, played 33 games)

My reputation stayed at 35% and this time I will not resign, but test my skills against Celtic. Can I maybe win a cup title?

Season        Club            League             Pos.   Cup               Info.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16  HOL  Den Bosch     Jupiler League       11th   2nd round     Joined 19th, already out of Cup
2016/17  HOL  Den Bosch     Jupiler League        1st   4th round      Won the league and promoted!
2017/18  HOL  Den Bosch     Eresdivisie           14th   2nd round     Survived in a bad season.
2018/19  SCO  Falkirk       Championship          2nd  Quarter fin.   Promoted after playoffs, 3rd r. of leag. cup
2019/20  SCO  Rangers      Championship           1st  Quarter fin.   Promoted, 3rd r. of leag. cup

[to_madeira]

Season 2017/18

FC Cape Town - ABSA Premiership

League Table | Schedule 1 Schedule 2 | Transfers | Squad 1 Squad 2

An amazing season! After started with 2 defeats in 3 games, I was thinking that would be a long season. However the new (some international) players settled in and all of sudden we're winning games. 14 wins and 3 draws mean we're top of the league. But only 4 wins in last 10 games meant a 2 point advantage to Sundowns with a game in hand for them, against Bloem Celtic who needed a win to survive. And they did it, a surprising 3-0 win and we are champions!

Another story in the cups, as Sundowns and Mbombela took us out. So, for next season I'll concentrate only in the African Champions League. I won't care about the Premiership (especially when ahead of a CL game) or the cups. There's plenty opportunities to get some cups.

Also, quick question: what's the general level of the teams in CL? Much stronger than South African top dogs?

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season     Club             Pos   DC1   DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Cape Town         5th    QF    n/a    n/a    Took over in 12th with 17 games remaining
2016/17   Cape Town         1st    R2    n/a    n/a    Champions and promoted!
2017/18   Cape Town         1st    R2    QF            Champions! [b]1st top domestic league won[/b]


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015
2016
2017
2018

Challenge Progress

Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa - Cape Town)
0/10 domestic cups 
0/5  club continental championships
0/1  club world championship

International
0/5  continental tournaments 
0/2  world tournaments

[jaysdailydose]

I think I've been lazy with adding talents to my team and that's where my sackings are coming from. I'll spend more time on that with Ajax CT. Any tips for finding players? Most everyones attributes range 6-7 points and thorough scouting takes a while which is hard at the beginning of a club

Are they still in the ABSA Premiership?

How many scouts do you have? Even in the early going, if I have say 4 scouts, I'll have one for "Next Opposition" and then two regional scouts and one guy who is my "Player Recruitment" scout -- I send him out (usually for a month) to like 5 different targets. Usually if you scout a player for a month, you'll have 100% knowledge or very close to it (depends on the scout.)

Especially for the future, figure out how you want to develop your scouting network -- it is extremely important to this challenge. Let me know how many scouts you have, and if you're at your current max, ask your board for more. It is one of the first things I do.

[jaysdailydose]

Also, quick question: what's the general level of the teams in CL? Much stronger than South African top dogs?

If you're beating Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and SuperSport United to win the title, you'll be a favorite in the ACL. I'd say Chiefs win the ACL 7/10 years in pretty much every save I've ever had.

[jaysdailydose]

TheEarl:

Are you still doing your super crazy Elite Ultimate Challenge, or did you come back to do the regular challenge with us mere mortals? I can't really tell from the write-up.

Best of luck, I need to pick up my pace... was too busy getting my website good to go.

[TheEarl]

TheEarl:

Are you still doing your super crazy Elite Ultimate Challenge, or did you come back to do the regular challenge with us mere mortals? I can't really tell from the write-up.

Best of luck, I need to pick up my pace... was too busy getting my website good to go.

I am back to normal as this is FM16 and some sort of unfamiliar territory. That "Elite" challenge was something I tried on FM15 after completing it first time. But as soon as FM16 came out, I gave up that experiment as I was too eager to play FM16. I might try it again in the future, but I will not stick to it for now. (Even if the teams I have managed so far would fit to that description.)

[JoeLapira]

How do ye guys move through seasons so fast? Only yesterday, TheEarl and to_madeira, ye were giving end of season reports and now ye're posting them again. Congrats to both of ye by the way on topping ye're respective leagues.

Earl; good call on taking a step back down to manage Glasgow Rangers, i was hoping for something similar while i was in Scotland but Rangers just shot straight to the top. By the end of my third season they were back competing at the top of Scottish football.

Madeira; Bet it feels good to get the first trophy outta the way, and a shot at the African CL to boot, well done.

[TheEarl]

How do ye guys move through seasons so fast? Only yesterday, TheEarl and to_madeira, ye were giving end of season reports and now ye're posting them again. Congrats to both of ye by the way on topping ye're respective leagues.

Earl; good call on taking a step back down to manage Glasgow Rangers, i was hoping for something similar while i was in Scotland but Rangers just shot straight to the top. By the end of my third season they were back competing at the top of Scottish football.

Madeira; Bet it feels good to get the first trophy outta the way, and a shot at the African CL to boot, well done.

Joe if you read one of my posts earlier up, I have been on vacation for a month in real life. This means I had no time to post updates, but I have played every now and then. So I am still 2,5 seasons ahead in my game as to where my updates have come. So possible tonight or tomorrow there will be 2 more updates I guess, then it will be back to "normal" speed after that.

[to_madeira]

Joe My save game is a bit ahead of the updates and also, have a week free, so lots of FM at the moment. Yeah, it's nice start getting trophies outta the way and see my reputation rises accordingly.

[jaysdailydose]

RE: Vikeologist

I told you I was going to go into a bit more detail about my first day at a club on my blog and I did, but I cross-posted it here to tactics forum. If you're interested, here's the link: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/449593-The-First-Day-at-a-Club-Taking-Over-Midseason?p=10671657#post10671657

[fiz]

Ryan Gordon

Port Vale Season 2018/2019 Review

After securing promotion I was asked to steer clear of relegation on League 1. I thought it would be relatively easy but it was a bad experience all around. Brought in 8 new players - none of them good enough. As mentioned before it was a lack of scouting that did me in. I think I had a chief and 2 scouts. I think around October my board wanted to schedule an emergency meeting, which this time I humbly obliged. Sadly it was not enough to secure any more time and they let me go.

In comes Ajax CT. I joined January with around 5 days left of the transfer window period. Only managed to sign one left sided midfielder George Lebese that I thought would help us in a new 442 I'm trying. More importantly I filled out my coaching staff with new hires and my scout team is now pretty large, 7 total I think. Started scouting for the summer and our world knowledge has gone from 5% to 11%. I'm limited to Africa but I think it's going well. Found two 19 year olds from Ghana that look really good. In the league we were 13th when I took over and barely managed to stay clear of relegation by finishing 14th. Looking forward to next season.

Ajax CT Stats

Most Goals - Edward Manqele - 12

Most Assists - George Lebese - 6 (in 13 games)

Highest Rating - George Lebese - 7.69

Season  Country  Team                          League    Position     Notes                                                           Challenge Landmarks
16/17    RSA	 Golden Arrows			NFD      12th         Promotion candidates, left after 8 games with 4 losses                        
17/18    ENG    Southend United                L2       13th         Sacked                                                                    
17/18    ENG    Port Vale                      L2	 5th	      Took over in 12th position in January - won playoffs
18/19    ENG    Port Vale                      L1       23rd         Sacked
18/19    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     14th         Took over in January

Challenge Progress

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

International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments

[to_madeira]

Seasons 2018/19 and start of 2019/20

FC Cape Town - ABSA Premiership | France U21

As I said my only goal left here is the ACL, which is played half in each season. So all the league and cup games I just used the instant result as I'm bored of the club, the league and want get outta here as soon as possible.

Ended up 4th, only 5 points short of previous years 1st place. Also early exit of Nedbank Cup (1st round) but reached SF in both MTN-8 and Telkom only to be eliminated by SuperSport United both times. They also won the the title.

One mistake I made is not to push for ACL qualifying places, in case I didn't win this years' edition. Rookie move that could cost me a couple of years.

So, we played 3 rounds in ACL and couldn't get any easier. 10-0, 9-1 and 7-0 in our way to group stage. But here, I think I have a pretty though group: Al-Ahly, Zamalek and ES Sétif.

Last but not least, I got myself a international job. Both Argentina U20 and France U21 offered me a place and I took the european one. Some easy matches to end the qualification and this summer I'll be playing the U21 European Championship and maybe winning it.

Top Performers

Most Goals - Asive Langwe - 20 (36 games)

Most Assists - Asive Langwe - 20 (36 games)

Highest Rating - Asive Langwe - 8.07 (36 games)

This guy is just immense down the right flank. Picked he up as a freebie after his Ajax CT contract come to an end, what were they thinking?

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

Season 2019/20

FC Cape Town

The only interest are the ACL matches so let's get to it. We won the group stage fairly easily (5 wins and a draw) and then in semis we beat ES Tunis (3-2 away, 5-1 home). On the other semi Sundowns got beaten by Al-Ahly (6-3 agg). So in the final we meet again with the Egyptian side (1-1 away, 3-0 home on GS) and we won! Despite playing 66 minutes with 10 men we managed to get a 3-3 draw at home and then we fly to Cairo:

Langwe stats through the CL: 15 games 18 goals 9 assist 8.89 rat

We won and to be honest was a lot easier than I expected. So I dodged a bullet of that mistake. Off we go!

On a side note, I reached final of the MTN-8 but lost to Sundows 2-4 after ET (1-1 after 90).

France U21

On the European Championship we managed to clean easily the group (7-1 Russia, 2-1 Spain, 1-0 Netherlands) but got knocked out by Italia on semis, despite dominating the game, 2-2 after ET, 3-4 on penalties.

After the game I resigned. Later, just after the CL win, I applied to Senegal job and got it.

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season     Club             Pos   DC1   DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Cape Town         5th    QF    n/a    n/a    Took over in 12th with 17 games remaining
2016/17   Cape Town         1st    R2    n/a    n/a    Champions and promoted!
2017/18   Cape Town         1st    R2    QF     n/a    Champions! [b][u]1st top domestic league won[/u][/b]
2018/19   Cape Town         4th    R1    SF     GS (still in play)
2019      Cape Town         2th    n/a   n/a     W      Left after the CL. Finalist of the MTN-8.  [b][u]1st club continental championship won[/u][/b]


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015
2016
2017
2018  France U21                                      Qualified for U21 European Championship
2019  France U21 / Senegal                            Semi-finalist U21 European Championship; 

Challenge Progress

Club
1/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa - Cape Town)
0/10 domestic cups 
1/5  club continental championships (Africa - Cape Town)
0/1  club world championship

International
0/5  continental tournaments 
0/2  world tournaments

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2058/9 Argentina Copa America Report

After leaving Bangor, I was unemployed for three and a half years until the 2058 World Cup, after which I became the latest in a long line of ex-Bangor City managers to become the national coach of Argentina.

We lost the Superclásico on penalties, and did ok in friendlies.

In the Copa America we were drawn in the group of death along with Uruguay, Colombia and Ecuador. This is a good thing if you’re one of the favourites for a cup, as it provides the possibility of eliminating a rival or maybe two.

We started off with a 3-0 victory of Ecuador. A relief. We looked good.

Then we lost 7-1 to Uruguay. We had a player sent off, but we were just terrible. Bangor could have beaten us.

The third group game we beat Colombia 2-0, eliminating them from the competition and finishing top of the group due Ecuador surprisingly beating Uruguay.

In the quarter-final we beat Japan U23 4-0. Brazil lost Wellington Guillherme (my Newcastle wonderkid and one of the 2 best players I’ve had in the game) to injury, and, (probably not coincidently) promptly lost to Mexico U23.

In the semi-final we faced Ecuador again. My experience in this save has taught me that beating a team easily in the group stage is no guarantee of repeated success, but in this case it was a nice easy 3-0 match again. I hoped the easy match plus the extra day’s rest would stand us in good stead for the rematch against Uruguay in the final.

But they lost to Mexico U23 in their semi-final.

I was quite nervous at this point. All our players were available for the final. Nobody had missed out on the squad through injury and now all our players were fit including our best striker.

And we were playing Mexico U23. Don’t get me wrong. They had some very talented young players and had already eliminated our 2 main rivals for the crown, but still; Mexico U23. All the goalkeepers in their squad were greyed-out.

I was never going to get another opportunity like this served up on a plate for me. Win and I just have the Asian cup to go. Lose and I would probably be sacked and maybe not get another shot with Argentina or Brazil for who knows how long. I was a bag of nerves, particularly in regard to the psychopath in midfield who’d been sent off in the Uruguay game.

In the end I didn’t have to worry. The score was only 2-0, but it was very one-sided.

I have the Copa America. Just the Asian Cup to go. I’ll probably go into hibernation again for 3 years until the next world Cup, and hope there’s an opening at South Korea. I’ve added some other Asian leagues, but then again, I’m not sure that’s a good idea if I’m pretty much going to hold out for South Korea anyway. I suppose having more players will make things more interesting.

Of course the sentimental thing to do would be to try to guide China to the Asian Cup.

Ha. Fat chance. The game’s not that unrealistic.

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 / Ivory Coast    5th        Lost in Opening Stage semi-final and resigned after CWC Q/F
28    Dalian / Ivory Coast    11th        Lost in FA Cup Final / Lost in 2029 ACON Q/F
29    Guangzhou / Egypt    1st        League / Cup double. Qualified for World Cup                    4th cup, 3rd league
30    Guangzhou/Egypt/USA    1st        League / Champions League double                        Asian Champions League
31/2    Hertha Berlin        6th        German Cup losing finalists. Qualified for UEFA Cup
32/33    Hertha Berlin/S Korea    6th        UEFA Cup losing finalists. 
33/34    HB/ SK/ Dortmund    6th        Moved team after 12 games. Won East Asia Cup again, this time with Korea.
34/35    Dortmund / SK / Egypt    1st        League and cup double. Quit South Korea after AC Q/F ignomy            5th cup, Bundesliga
35/36    Dortmund / Colombia    2nd        German cup winners.
36/37    Barcelona / Colombia    2nd        CL Q/F.     Confederations Cup Finalists                     CWC
37/38    Barcelona / Holland    1st        League, Cup, Champions league treble. World Cup with Holland.            Euro Champions League, 6th cup, Spanish league. World Cup.
38/39    AC Milan / Holland    1st        League and Italian Cup winners.                         7th cup, Serie A
39/40    Holland            n/a        Won European Championship                            European Championship
40/41    Sochaux    / South Africa    7th        Took over Newcastle at end of season.
41/42    Newcastle/South Africa    5th        FA Cup Semi-Finals. World Cup disaster.
42/43    Newcastle / Brazil    6th        CO Cup Q/F, Euro Cup 2nd K/O Round
43/44    Newcastle / Brazil    7th        FA Cup Finalists
44/45    Newcastle / Brazil    4th        Euro Cup winners
45/46    Newcastle / Brazil    2nd        League runners-up. FA Cup winners.                        8th cup
46/47    Newcastle / Mexico    4th                                                Gold Cup
47/48    Newcastle / Mexico    1st        League, Cup and Champions League treble                        English league
2048    Monterray / Mexico    1st        Won the league, and about flaming time.                        8th domestic league
48/49    OL / Mexico        14th        Took over OL for last 9 games.Third Confederations Cup Final.Third time lucky.    Confederations Cup
49/50    OL            3rd        Lost Coupe de la Ligue final on penalties
50/51    Monaco/Egypt        1st                                                French league & 9th cup
2051    Corinthians / Egypt    3rd                                                Copa Libertadores
2052-3    Egypt                    Lost in ACON semi-final
53/4    Bangor/Ivory Coast    1st        Eliminated in World Cup group stage. Won Welsh league by a mile            10th domestic league
54/5    Bangor/ Ivory Coast    1st                                                African Cup of Nations and 10th domestic league
58/9    Argentina                                                        Copa America

Challenge Progress

Club
10/10 top domestic leagues (South Africa, S Korea, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, Mexico, France, Wales)
10/10 domestic cups (South Africa, S Korea, Mexico, China, Germany, Spain, Italy, England, France)
5/5 club continental championships (Africa, North America, Asia, Europe, South America)
1/1 club world championship

International
4/5 continental tournaments (European Championship, Gold Cup, African Cup of Nations, Copa America)
2/2 world tournaments (World Cup, Conferations Cup)

[vikeologist]

to How many team qualify for the CL from South Africa. In my save it started off as just one, but that number expanded rapidly. At the time it seemed as though my quest for the African CL dragged on forever, but looking back it was only 3 seasons. The failure the first 2 times was tough to take because getting to the semi-final is so easy, but those last 2 fixtures can be heartbreaking. Hopefully you can do it first time. i think you asked how good the other African clubs are. They weren't very good in my save apart from my bete noire, Orlando Pirates.

fiz I doubt you'll come close to being sacked as manay times as NormandyWept and myself, although to be fair, you're off to a good start. It's just part of the challenge. Ajax CT are a good club to establish yourself with, but I guess you're going to rent rather than buy somewhere to live just in case.

earl - Good luck getting a second successive promotion with Rangers. Do you think you're going to make a concerted effort to achieve the challenge a second time, or are you just taking it as it comes? As previously mentioned, I'm not going to on FM16. I'll start the challenge, but just as a way of getting tog rips with FM16. Got to achieve the challenge on FM15 first though.

[TheEarl]

vike congrats on Copa America. Hope you can get South Korea quite soon, so Asian Cup should be achievable.

Yes I want to complet FM16 also, I always thought NW would finish FM15 first as he was so far ahead of me. Remember reading this thread several times a day to see if he completed with a sweep of Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League in one season. It didn't happened and I was the first to finish anyway, but that really didn't matter. But now I want to be the first manager to complete this in both FM15 and FM16.

[vikeologist]

The South Korea job didn't become available until after the 2063 Asian Cup. I don't know whether to apply for it, (and have to manage the team for 4 years with the danger of being sacked) or wait until after the 2066 World Cup to see if it becomes available then.

I'm sort of hoping that FM17 introduces something new that will change the nature of the challenge, and make me want to try it again. (An example would be the introduction of the Oceanic Champions League, but I guess a change to the nature of creating a new manager would also mean having to change the challenge). Anyway, that's a long way off. Who knows, maybe I will get into a FM16 challenge.

Can't say that this part of the challenge is a lot of fun. I'm surprised I'm the first one to finish the club side of things before the international one. I assumed that would happen to everybody. I suppose it's amusing that Monday was 2055, and if I don't apply for or get the South Korea job, I should be into 2066ish in a few hours time. If NW was The Turtle, I'm a legendary figure that my players have heard of, but none of them are sure I actually exist until I turn up with my white beard and magical abilities.

[JoeLapira]

Congrats to Vike and to_madeira on your cup wins.

In terms of my own save, I didn't make as much progress as I'd like to have yesterday but we've only 10 games left in the regular season of the K-League Classic. We finally started to pick up some wins, importantly against our relegation rivals. We're 2 points clear of the relegation playoff spot and 5 points clear of automatic. Avoiding automatic relegation is the aim but I'd rather avoid the playoff as well. 5 clubs have sacked managers in our league this season, the 2 below us, the one just above us and Jeonbuk, in 6th at the time and the defending champions. I applied for that job straight away but unfortunately I didn't get it. I've also applied for the Kaizer Chiefs job in S.Africa and I haven't heard anything back yet, so fingers crossed. I haven't felt the same affiliation with Suwon as I did with Berwick and I don't see Suwon, with its shocking finances, being able to support my push for leagues and cups.

I've had one competitive game with Tunisia, a 3-0 win away to Zimbabwe in the African Nations qualifiers. I'm fairly positive about reaching the final tournament itself and we'll see how far we can go when we get there.

[jaysdailydose]

I was going to get relegated and fired from Bristol Rovers, so I jumped before I was pushed. The Stevenage job we all know I covet was open and I tried, and I got the interview, but they didn't hire me.

So, especially since I blog on my saves now, I'm treating this as a *SAVE FAILED* and will be restarting. I may just get out of England to start, but that Bristol Rovers job was horrendous. Injuries, two games with game winning penalties handed out in the last five minutes or in stoppage time, and just a total rot from being on 13 points in 20 matches -- and I just couldn't save them.

Just shows that you can prepare like crazy and sometimes you just can't fix a situation in time. Especially with no money and being over your wage budget by 5k to start.

My screenshots for my manager will be the exact same no matter where I start, so when I get my new job I'll just post it to save on clutter. Thanks for following, guys, and now you can pick on me for finally getting a team relegated.

[vikeologist]

. But now I want to be the first manager to complete this in both FM15 and FM16.

I think I'd rather be the first to achieve both of the most difficult challenges; this and the Youth Challenge. Anybody who does that will have serious game.

It won't be me though. Firstly because this challenge plays to my strengths; job selection, transfers and endurance, whereas the Youth Challenge encompasses my weaknesses.

Mostly though, it won't be me because Bartrcm and smp20 have already done the Youth Challenge, and will doubtless make short shrift of this one as well.

Has anybody else who is doing this challenge also completed the youth challenge. I don't know if there is a hall of fame for previous years.

Incidentally, I applied for the South korea job, and i'm about to accept it. (I need to remember that despite my victory lap-like posts, I haven't achieved either of the aforementioned challenges yet). South Korea is the only game in town. I can get China, Indonesia etc to come back as available, but despite having the league loaded, Australia national team remains unavailable. So, probably its South Korea or I don't achieve the challenge. I had to apply for the job, to see if they'd offer it to me, and having been offered it, i have to take it, because I believe that if you turn down a job, the club or nation can hold it against you. (It could just be a superstition).

Anyway, looking at the history of South Korea managers, it seems that most job switches happen after the Asian Cup. The manager wh's just left was there for 8 years, and I really don't want to have to spend most of the next 8 seasons on holiday. Let's get this on. South Korea are really low in the world dankings so i may need 4 years to get things shipshape.

This is my second time with South Korea. I left 28 years ago after going out in the Asian Cup Q/F.

Honey, I'm home. (I call all my players honey, because I can't remember their Korean names).

[TheEarl]

The South Korea job didn't become available until after the 2063 Asian Cup. I don't know whether to apply for it, (and have to manage the team for 4 years with the danger of being sacked) or wait until after the 2066 World Cup to see if it becomes available then.

I'm sort of hoping that FM17 introduces something new that will change the nature of the challenge, and make me want to try it again. (An example would be the introduction of the Oceanic Champions League, but I guess a change to the nature of creating a new manager would also mean having to change the challenge). Anyway, that's a long way off. Who knows, maybe I will get into a FM16 challenge.

Can't say that this part of the challenge is a lot of fun. I'm surprised I'm the first one to finish the club side of things before the international one. I assumed that would happen to everybody. I suppose it's amusing that Monday was 2055, and if I don't apply for or get the South Korea job, I should be into 2066ish in a few hours time. If NW was The Turtle, I'm a legendary figure that my players have heard of, but none of them are sure I actually exist until I turn up with my white beard and magical abilities.

Slight correction, I did also finish the club side before international. I just didn't quit club football straight away, but I also quite club football when there was just one international trophy left.

[to_madeira]

vike: Only two qualified. Me and 2nd place Sundowns. Fortunately they didn't go past semis as I have a pretty poor record against them.

Ulsan offered me an interview and would be a great opportunity but didn't choose me after all.

[sherwinriga]

jaysdailydose, too bad on your failed save and once you're restarting, you will be back to square one. I hope you made it better 'cause it's gonna be more challenging. By the way, I suggest that you need to keep an eye on your team, in terms of winning, drawing or losing. Good luck!

[mayihavecookie]

vikeologist Congratulations on finishing the club side and good luck on your last quest, I'm sure you will make it. There actually was a point some weeks ago when I kind of hoped I would be able to finish this before you. Sounds a bit stupid now, as it's still a long way to go for me and you will probably be finished the next time I check this thread.

Everyone else: I kind of lost track to be honest, this thread is too fast for me sometimes. So I'll just say welcome to the challenge to those who started recently and good luck to everyone. Nice to have you back TheEarl.

Will update on my second season with Juventus soon.

[jaysdailydose]

Vikeologist:

As far as hardest challenges, I think you're forgetting one: San Marino.

Sammarinese Challenge, especially run as a youth challenge, is the hardest challenge I've ever seen, and its not close.

[mayihavecookie]

Guys, I said earlier I'm going to post an update soon so I'm going to do that. Though I'm not even sure I'll be able to find motivation to continue this challenge after what surely was the most frustrating summer possible. I'm trying to keep it short.

mayihavecookie's Challenge, Season 17

Season 2030/31



Juventus F.C. - Serie A

League Table | Schedule 1 | Schedule 2 | Schedule 3

I had an OK season with Juventus. Last years champions Sampdoria were terrible so it was easy for us to win the title 15 points before Roma in 2nd. We also won the Italian Cup for a second time.

In the Champions League we didn't do too bad as well. Most big teams (Arsenal, Real Madrid, Man City, Barcelona, PSG, Schalke) were out after the first knockout round and I knew it would never again be so easy to win that cursed title.

We played against Bayern in the Quarter Final which was probably the toughest opponent we could have met. And we were down 1-0 in the away game before I was able to turn it around with a late substitution who scored two goals in 85th and 87th minute for a 2-1 win. At home we played 0-0 and were in the semi finals.

Next was Monaco, and after a solid season without any terrible results I was really confident. We got hammered though. We lost 1-4 away and I had to risk everything in the home game. And yes, we were actually up 2-0 right after half time and the 3-0 that would have made us go to the final was close. Then Monaco changed to a deadly 3-4-3 and scored four goals again. We were out with a 3-8 on aggregate.

Mexico

Copa America | Gold Cup

Now this is where it gets annoying. I had the chance to take Mexico to two continental tournaments this summer. First our U23 would play in the Copa América, then right after that our first team would try and win the Cold Cup.

Of course I decided to take control of the U23 to try and take revenge on Brazil for sacking me after our quarter final out at the World Cup. First we beat Peru, then we played against Brazil. They soon were up 4-1, but we didn't give up and fought back with three goals between minutes 70 and 80. But Brazil had the final say and scored the 5-4 winning goal after 93 minutes. We then beat Costa Rica U23 and guess what, Brazil actually lost their two other games and were only third with 3 points. I thought they were out of the tournament.

We beat Chile and Peru (again) in the quarter and semi final and went into the final against... Brazil. I totally missed that the third team of the group would stay in the tournament as well. This time we were equal. We took them to penalties. The first 8 players of each team scored, then the 9th Mexican guy missed and we lost. That's not how taking revenge works guys... OK winning the Copa América with Mexico U23 would have been a sensation. But to be so close just to lose the final against Brazil again (just like four years ago with Uruguay). In Penalties!

The Gold Cup started just three days later and here we were favourites for the title. We didn't have any problems on the way. We beat Guatemala 6-0, Haiti 4-1, Trinidad & Tobago 3-0, Jamaica 4-0 and Cuba 4-0 and then we met the United States of America in the final. It went terrible. We needed a lot of luck to take them to extra time. Then just 30 seconds into extra time they scored the 3-2 but we equalised soon after. Penalties again. And we ****ing lost again. If there's a trophy for most international tournaments lost in penalties in the course of one bloody month please let me know.

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season     Club             Pos   DC1   DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014  CHN Renhe             11th  QF    n/a    n/a     Took over after 13 games in 16th 
2015  CHN Renhe             2nd   QF    n/a    n/a     Chinese Manager of the Year
2016  CHN Renhe             1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won Chinese Super League & FA Cup
2017  KOR Chunnam           2nd   R4    n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League
2018  KOR Jeonbuk           1st   Won   n/a    Won     Won Asian Champions League, K-League Classic & FA Cup
19/20 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     2nd   Won   QF     n/a     Won SA Cup
20/21 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     1st   Won   R1     open    Won SA Cup, Be The Coach and Premier Soccer League
21/22 RSA Kaizer Chiefs     1st   R1    QF     won     Won African Champions League, left after 13 games in 1st
21/22 GER Borussia Dortmund 3rd   F     n/a    n/a     Took over after 26 games in 9th
22/23 GER Borussia Dortmund 1st   F     n/a    EL won  Won Bundesliga and Europa League
23/24 ESP Real Madrid       1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won La Liga and Spanish Cup
24/25 HOL Ajax              1st   Won   n/a    R2      Won Eredivisie and Dutch Cup
2025  ARG Boca Juniors      1st   n/a   n/a    Won     Took over after 15 games in 2nd. Won League & Copa Libertadores
2026  ARG Boca Juniors      1st   Won   n/a    Won     Won Copa Argentina, Club World Cup and everything else
27/28 ENG Arsenal           1st   Won   Won    EL R2   Won Premier League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup
28/29 ENG Arsenal           2nd   R4    Won    QF      Left 2nd after 33 games, they went on the win League, won C.O.C.
29/30 ITA Juve              2nd   Won   n/a    R2      Won Italian Cup   
30/31 ITA Juve              1st   Won   n/a    SF      Won League & Cup double


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.  Notes & Achievements[/b]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2014   -
2015   -
2016   -
2017   - 
2018   South Korea                               Joined 22.7.18
2019   South Korea                 QF            Sacked 6.2.19
2019   Cameroon                                  Joined 17.2.19 World Ranking 29th
2020   Cameroon      
2021   Cameroon                    Won           Won African Cup of Nations
2022   Cameroon             3rd                  Resigned 10.7.22 World Ranking 4th
2023   France        SF                          Joined 17.7.22 World Ranking 7th
2024   France                      QF            Sacked 14.7.24 World Ranking 4th
2025   -
2026   -
2027   Uruguay                     Final         Joined 10.1.17, Resigned 3.7.17
2028   Brazil                                    Joined 12.9.17 World Ranking 1st
2029   Brazil                             Won    Won Confederations Cup
2030   Mexico                                    Joined 21.7.30 World Ranking 18th
2030   Mexico                      Final         Lost both Gold Cup & Copa America final

Challenge Progress

Club
9/10 top domestic leagues (China, South Korea, South Africa, Germany, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England, Italy)
9/10 domestic cups (China, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Holland, Argentina, England (FAC), England (COC), Italy)
3/5  club continental championships (Asia, Africa, South America)
1/1  club world championship (Boca Juniors)

International
1/5  continental tournaments (African Cup of Nations with Cameroon)
1/2  world tournaments (Confederations Cup with Brazil)

[mouth123]

My laptop is now broken and I have lost everything on it ! just got promoted to the premiership with Brechin ! ah well will start again when i fix my latop

[TheEarl]

cookie really sad to hear about your unfortunates. Dont give up man, you have come such a far way. I played with Mexico at some stage myself. The difference was that I won the Gold Cup with them, but also lost Copa America final. It is really frustrating to loose at penalties and in FM15 if lets say I had 10 games that went to penalty shoot-out , I would maximum win 1 or 2 out of 10. It feels bugged to play those, but most of the time you should be able to win before penalties.

I am sure you can complete this if you just stick in there.

[JoeLapira]

Cookie that is some serious hard luck. Great credit to ya for getting the U23s to Copa Final though, but back to back penalty shootout defeats is hard to take. I'm sure you'll be able to bounce back from it.

Mouth; Id reccomend cloud saving your game in future. That way if the laptop does break again then at least you can reload the save. Hard luck with that though as getting Brechin to the Prem was excellent work.

[vikeologist]

Nobody should rely on cloud save. When you change your hard drive it will overwrite your cloud save. Its better to periodically save onto a USB.

[JoeLapira]

Nobody should rely on cloud save. When you change your hard drive it will overwrite your cloud save. Its better to periodically save onto a USB.

Really? I didnt know that, i've been saving to the cloud all this time. Fortunately, I havent been in a situation where i needed it. How do you mean change your hard drive though, im not very techy.

[vikeologist]

Really? I didnt know that, i've been saving to the cloud all this time. Fortunately, I havent been in a situation where i needed it. How do you mean change your hard drive though, im not very techy.

What i meant is that when you have a new hard drive (or a new computer) and reinstall STEAM, there's a danger that the cloud on your account will save over anything you have on the cloud (with a blank directory). I'm sure its not meant to do that, and maybe there's a way around it, (although definitely not an easy way), but I think the cloud save is useless, and many people, including myself, have lost saves. I lost about 3 seasons of this challenge due to this, though luckily I'd saved onto a memory stick the last time I'd won a landmark trophy.

The cloud might work in some situations, but I wouldn't suggest anyone chance it. Backup onto external memory sticks. (Don't even rely on backups of your hard drive, since they tend to save only certain types of files, and ignore FM game saves).

[JoeLapira]

Cheers for the info Vike, i'm gonna start backing up on USB now just in case. I was able to play a couple of more games last night, now with 4 games left we're 5 points clear of the relegation playoff spot and 8 clear of automatic. We have some tough games coming up but hopefully we can hang on.

Another win for my Tunisian side, 3-1 against Lesotho, means all we need is a draw and we'll have qualified for the ACON. Hopefully a good run there will help boost my reputation up another level. Really need to get out of Suwon for the sake of the Challenge, 4 and a half seasons played and nothing in terms of Challenge Trophies as of yet.

[fiz]

Ryan Gordon

Ajax CT Season 2019/2020 Review

Quick phone update while it's fresh in my mind I'll post screenshots later.

Made about 8 friendly matches to get the team to adapt to my new direct 442. Won them all very convincingly. Signed a new right back, center back, def mid, center mid, and a striker. All the best I could find from Africa. I found out I'm limited to only five non South African players which was a bummer to my scouting efforts.

League play went great and we improved a lot from last season. We were sitting in first place after five games but Kaiser Chiefs had only played one. As soon as they caught up in games they moved into first place and never let go. We never really challenged for the title but nobody else threatened our second place finish either. I'm now looking for South African players to improve the squad for next year and try for a title.

The league cup was a bust as we lost in the first round. Moving on.

The Nedbank cup went very well with wins against the Sundowns and Kaiser Chiefs along the way we found ourselves in a very favorable matchup in the finals against FC Cape Town.

We put in a solid performance and came away with a fairly easy 2-0 win. First trophy of the challenge! And a stepping stone to build into the future. This also gives us a qualification to the CAF so I'm excited to give that a try.

All in all a good season.

Ajax CT Stats

Most Goals - Mohammed

Most Assists - Katze

Highest Rating - George Lebese

Season  Country  Team                          League    Position     Notes                                                           Challenge Landmarks
16/17    RSA	 Golden Arrows			NFD      12th         Promotion candidates, left after 8 games with 4 losses                        
17/18    ENG    Southend United                L2       13th         Sacked                                                                    
17/18    ENG    Port Vale                      L2	 5th	      Took over in 12th position in January - won playoffs
18/19    ENG    Port Vale                      L1       23rd         Sacked
18/19    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     14th         Took over in January
19/20    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem      2nd          Won the Nedbank Cup

Challenge Progress

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

International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments

[Bartrcm]

Vasco CT - SA first division - Season 2016-2017

Predicted: 1th

Actual finish: 1th and CHAMPIONS!!!

We played a very good season, but we had very tough oponnents in Black Leopards. We took the title in the 2nd last game. Luckily for us the last game against Black Leopards didn't care anymore because we lost a game that didn't matter. We won the title on goal difference. We had the best attack and the second best defence of the league, so we were deservedly crowned as champions. After the play-off game Black Leopards also won promotion. This is my team that won promotion, and like you can see, they all have very good ratings.

Games

Cup: we reached the QF, so we did extremelly well.

Transfers: Most of them were back up players, but did their jo when necessary. But after a couple of games in the season my chairman sold my best player behind my back for peanuts. So I brought in Ndlovu who did a very good job.

Finances: Just terrible. After our promotion we got the message that we got next budgets for our aim to survive in the Premier League. I don't have the feeling that we can stay up with such a small budget. The problem is that the big teams all laugh me off when I apply. I haven't sign a new contract at the moment, and I hope there will come a good opportunity to tke another job.

INTERNATIONAL - Australian U23

I was very happy to get the opportunity to guide Australia U23 through the Olympic games. What didn't happend in FM15 happens in FM16 allready in my second season. My first taste of International management, but it didn't go as planned. I only got 2 friendlies and 3 games at the Olympics were we only took 1 point. In the last game of the group stages we had to win against Portugal to have a chance of qualifing for the next round. We got demolished 6-1 by them with Cristiano Ronaldo as their main player. Such good players should be banned from those game. No fun at all. After this game I got released of my duties.

Australian U23 games: Notice: I took over before the Friendly against Iran.

[b]CLUB CAREER

Season           Club              Pos   DC1        DC2    Cont    Notes & Achievements[/b]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015-2016  SA    Vasco CT          5th   1th round  n/a    n/a     Took over after 2 games in 14th 
2016-2017  SA    Vasco CT          1th   QF         n/a    n/a     Promotion


[b]INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year   Nation        NL     WC     Cont.  Conf.          Notes & Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015   -
2016   Australia U23                                     Humiliated at the Olympics

Challenge Progress

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

International
0/5  continental tournaments  0/2  world tournaments 

[fiz]

German clubs are all over my guys in the summer. This is gonna be hard to keep going.

well done Bartcrm!

[threelions1goal]

Ajax CT End Of Season 2019-2020

Competitions

So, predicted to finish 5th and finished 5th......yet my board decided it was "slightly disappointing"

To be fair, we were sitting pretty around Christmas, but as fiz is discovering, when Kaiser Chiefs decide to get their act together, then it's difficult!!

Kaiser Chiefs and injuries put pay to any title challenge I was thinking of mounting.

The cup competitions - nothing to report here.

I'm now in close season and trying to sign players, but my wage allowance compared to Kaiser Chiefs, Supersport and Orlando Pirates is rubbish, so its hard to attract players.

However, I'll probably stick around in South Africa for a while (hoping Kaiser Chiefs job becomes available!!!)

International management - I dipped my toes

And I've managed to guide them to the ACON

Not expecting to set the world on fire with Angola, but we'll see how far we go!!

Good luck to my fellow South Africa Counterparts - Bart, To_Madeira, Fiz

Good luck to, so near and yet so far Vike!!!

Season	 Team 	 	Country		 Position	            Notes          
15/16	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     2nd		Achieved Euro Cup Qualification
16/17	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	     4th		Won Cup, Euro Qualification
17/18	Cliftonville	N.Ireland	      1st		Manager of the Year,Won County Shield, Qualified for Champions League
18/19	Southend	England		Took over in November 9th in the league, sacked in March, 18th in League
19/20	Ajax CT		S. Africa	      5th		Cups - rubbish!!
19/20	Angola		Nation		Qualified for ACON

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


International
0/5 continental tournaments ()
0/2 world tournaments ()

[NormandyWept]

It's safe to say that Kaizer Chiefs (and bloody Bayern Munich, their German twins) are not something I miss about this challenge!

[JoeLapira]

End of Season Report 2019

Suwon FC: Going into the season we were favourites to be relegated but after a long hard fought season we managed to survive and finish comfortably in 9th position. In terms of the cup we were knocked out in the 5th round which was a bit disappointing but I doubt we would have won it anyway. Things weren't looking good at the start, going 8 games without a win, but importantly once we did find the winning formula we were able to do so against our relegation rivals; Ansan and Seongnam. We had a couple of other good results throughout the season as well but winning the relegation "six-pointers" was vital to our survival. Plans for next season? Hopefully move on from Suwon, the financial situation here is very poor and without that backing I can't see how I can take Suwon FC any further. Hopefully one of the better jobs in S.Korea becomes available or else I will have to change countries in order to progress in the Challenge.

Table: http://i67.tinypic.com/122neie.jpg

Best Player: http://i68.tinypic.com/315ybnl.jpg

Best Signing: http://i65.tinypic.com/1044xlv.jpg

Tunisia

Still unbeaten since I took over after the ACON, and we have qualified for the CHAN; where we have Botswana, Congo ans S.Africa in our group. This competition prevents the use of foreign based players, which isn't a problem for me as 7 of my "best 11" are based in Tunisia, which leads me to be fairly optimistic of our chances of doing well in this competition. We also beat Liberia over 2 legs in the World Cup Qualifiers to move into the group stage where we have Mozambique, Congo ans S.Africa. I have a feeling the game against S.Africa will decide who goes to the World Cup.

Fixtures: http://i63.tinypic.com/166dtuf.jpg

CLUB CAREER

Season     Club			Pos	DC1	DC2	Cont	Notes & Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16   Berwick Rangers(SCO)	1st    	R.4	R.1	n/a	Champions and promoted to League 1.
2016/17   Berwick Rangers(SCO)	2nd	R.4	R.2	n/a	Promoted to Championship via playoffs.
2017/18   Berwick Rangers(SCO)	3rd	R.5	R.3	n/a	Reached playoffs but lost out on chance to go the Premiership,
							Won Scottish Challenge Cup, Resigned from Berwick.
2018      Suwon FC(KOR)		3rd	n/a	n/a	n/a	Took over with 12 league games remaining,
							Promoted to K-League Classic via Playoffs.
2019	  Suwon FC(KOR)		9th	R.5	n/a	n/a	Favourites for relegation but survived.


INTERNATIONAL CAREER

Year	Nation        	NL     	WC     	Cont.  Conf.  	Notes & Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015	
2016	Scotland u19	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Qualified for European U19 Championship
2017							Resigned as Scotland u19 Manager
2018
2019	China u23	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Resigned as China u23 Manager to take over Tunisia
2019	Tunisia		n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	Qualified for 2020 CHAN

Club

0/10 top domestic leagues ()

0/10 domestic cups ()

0/5 club continental championships ()

0/1 club world championship

International

0/5 continental tournaments ()

0/2 world tournaments ()

[JoeLapira]

CHAN Champions

Although it doesn't count towards the Challenge, it's still great to add another trophy to the collection and hopefully another boost to my reputation. After a narrow 1-0 win over S.Africa which saw us lose 3 key players to injury, we went on to crush Botswana 4-0. This guaranteed us a spot in the knockouts so in the final group game against Congo I gave the fringe players a shot and they let us down as we lost 2-1. We went on to meet Ivory Coast in the quarters and like the S.Africa game we came through with a narrow 1-0 win. It was on to the semis where we came up against a strong Nigerian side. They went 1 up on the 67th minute and we were under pressure. I changed from our diamond formation and 4-3-3 and boy did that change things. The momentum swung straight in our favor and we scored 2 goals in the final 8 minutes to clinch our place in the final. The final reunited us with our opening opponents S.Africa, and this went all the way to penalties after it was 1-1 after 120 mins of football. Thankfully we pulled through 4-3 on pens and the trophy was ours.

http://i64.tinypic.com/2vm68m8.jpg

[fiz]

Ryan Gordon

Ajax CT Season 2020/2021 Review

Another weekend session underway. Really getting into the save now, don't think I'll go anywhere until this is done.

The league season started with FS Stars winning 4 in a row to launch themselves into first. Like KC last season they kept their spot in first for 90% of the season. Ajax CT were right behind in 2nd usually around 3-6 points back with a game or two played in hand. So we're right there.

Chiefs, Supersport, and the Pirates are kind of knocking themselves around staying below me in the table.

With 7 games to go, we play FS Stars and absolutely embarass them winning 6-0. Things started falling apart for them. They lost and drew their next two games which put me in first on goal difference. I lose the top spot to them with two games left for Ajax, but only one for the Stars. We win the game in hand which is great.

So now we're top the table again. Same point total as the Stars with the goal difference lead. Final gameday and we draw. I'm pissed. Then I see a little champions popup after continuing - Stars lost to the Sundowns, giving me a one point league title. Thank god!! First League win for the Urban Warriors.

I took over as the manager of Ghana sometime during the season. We haven't got much done yet.

Cups - we lost in the MTN 8 and the League cup in the first round. Made it to the finals again of the Nedbank but lost to the Stars 2-1. Oh well can't be bothered. Have some Champions League games going on as well.

Made it to the Group Stages with Kaiser Chiefs, Zamalek, and MA Tetouan. Finished in 2nd with 11 points with KC taking the top spot on 14 points. We play ES Tunis, last years champions, in the semis. First game was a 2-0 win at home with two goals from my hero George Lebese. The away game was kind of nervy but we won 4-3 after some late game mistakes by the Tunis CBs. Really thought I'd see the Chiefs in the finals but it was Etoile du Sahel who knocked them out. They have won this competition twice and the Tunisia league eight times. So they've got more experience here.

Took the opening match at home in front of 57,000 (where are these people during the regular season?) with another 2-0 win. A week later we were crowned champions of Africa after winning in Tunisia 2-1. A 19 year old youth striker gave us the lead after one of our starters went down with a dislocated shoulder. Super happy with his contribution.

Meanwhile during all this Champions League stuff, the new season has started and I'm ready to let someone else take the wheel. Going to focus on Ghana until a new opportunity comes up.

Here are my Ajax key men.

George Lebese - no idea how important he would become after almost not signing him on. I just needed a filler left footed winger but he had other ideas.

Justice Mvelase - scored the winning goal in the Champions League final

Soloman Abubakar - no doubt he is the best at the club, I think he put in a good word for the Ghana job as well

Roscoe Sait - this guy cleans up any danger with no fusses

Ryan Gordon Profile

PS - the African Champions League schedule is so dumb I don't think I would have stayed anyway. Would have left it for a later time. Good luck to you guys who try twice.

Season  Country  Team                          League    Position     Notes                                                           Challenge Landmarks
16/17    RSA	 Golden Arrows			NFD      12th         Promotion candidates, left after 8 games with 4 losses                        
17/18    ENG    Southend United                L2       13th         Sacked                                                                    
17/18    ENG    Port Vale                      L2	 5th	      Took over in 12th position in January - won playoffs
18/19    ENG    Port Vale                      L1       23rd         Sacked
18/19    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     14th         Took over in January
19/20    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     2nd          Won the Nedbank Cup                                             +1 Cup
20/21    RSA    Ajax CT                        Prem     1st          Champions of the league and Africa, left Ajax, joined Ghana     +1 League, +1 Continental Championship

Challenge Progress

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

International
0/5 continental tournaments
0/2 world tournaments

[vikeologist]

fiz - Congrats on your success in South Africa.

JoeL - Congrats on the CHAN. Do you have to manage the team in the CHAN, or are you able to get one of your staff to do it? Do managers get sacked because of poor performance in it? Did you have enough players, or did you have to include greyed out ones? I'd imagine that extra competitions like the CHAN are fun at the starrt of the challenge, but would be a pain in the arse if you're having to chase the ACON near the end of the challenge.

3L1G - South Africa is definitely easier if you get the KC job. As far as i remember, i didn't think Swallows (my first club) were going to catch up with them any time soon.

Bartrcm - Congrats on promotion. I think even U23 jobs are quite useful in building up a reputation internationally, so it will stand you in good stead.

Incidentally, all of you managing an African national side, is the final part of world cup qualifying a group stage now. In FM15 the final stage was a playoff, and it wasn't seeded, so you could end up with two top African nationas playing each other, which was a bit stressful (before the draw) although I don't think i ever failed to qualify for the World Cup.

[fiz]

Thanks vike.

I thought I'd be able to find a job in a european league, but that's not the case so far. Teams still laughing at my interest.

[JoeLapira]

JoeL - Congrats on the CHAN. Do you have to manage the team in the CHAN, or are you able to get one of your staff to do it? Do managers get sacked because of poor performance in it? Did you have enough players, or did you have to include greyed out ones? I'd imagine that extra competitions like the CHAN are fun at the starrt of the challenge, but would be a pain in the arse if you're having to chase the ACON near the end of the challenge.

Incidentally, all of you managing an African national side, is the final part of world cup qualifying a group stage now. In FM15 the final stage was a playoff, and it wasn't seeded, so you could end up with two top African nationas playing each other, which was a bit stressful (before the draw) although I don't think i ever failed to qualify for the World Cup.

I'm not sure if you can get your staff to manage during the CHAN, but I wasn't looking as I wanted to manage the side for it. I don't think any managers were sacked after the competition ended, compared to the 6 or 7 that were let go after the ACON. I had a great selection of players, I have a national pool of about 50 players, 30 of which are based in Tunisia meaning I had a very good pool of players to choose from for this tournament. The ACON is only a few months away now and I'd reckon we have a good chance of doing well in it but I understand your point about chasing the ACON at the end and having to get through the CHAN first.

In terms of WC qualification, you play a 2 legged match first, the winners are drawn into groups and the winners of the groups go to the final WC tournament.

[fiz]

After an unsuccessful ACON campaign with Egypt and a semifinal Copa America run with Uruguay, Ryan Gordon finds himself in Spain with Sporting de Gijon for the 23/24 season. They were just promoted back into Liga BBVA.

Had two failed interviews with Lorient and Getafe, but Sporting seems the best choice anyway.

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's Not 2067 South Korea Asian Cup Report

Might as well report on my first three and a half years with South Korea, because maybe the only part of my report for the upcoming Asian Cup you may read is the end bit to see if I have obtained the last trophy and achieved the challenge.

My time with South Korea has been a struggle, and just about the only good thing is that I haven’t been sacked.

I’ve finished second in both East Asia Cup we’ve played, because Japan are probably the best Asian nation at the moment, but of course impossible to manage.

We snuck through the first World Cup qualifying group (as one of the best second place teams) behind Qatar (who to be fair are the second ranked nation behind Japan). We managed to top the final qualifying group, but with just 20 points from 10 games, it was a close run thing.

Here I should explain the problem with South Korea. I like to play a 442 formation with wingers. About a year in though I had to accept that South Korea had no wingers or strikers that were any good at all. What’s more, there were no promising left wingers or strikers, (although strangely 2 potentially very good right wingers).

So I went to a strikerless formation, but the team, not surprisingly didn’t score many goals or even create any chances. I briefly changed the tactics to push further up and play attacking football, but although we still didn’t create any chances, we did start conceding lots of goals.

The breakthrough, maybe, came when I decided to simply add an attacking right winger, since one of the promising wingers was now one of the better Korean players available. Still nobody on the left wing or as a striker, but it has made a difference, because now my players are a bit more spread out, and unlike the rest of the squad, the right winger can actually kick the football in the direction of the net.

So we reached the World Cup, and I expected three straight losses. I just hoped we wouldn’t lose all our games so heavily that I would be sacked. However the right winger makes all the difference. We drew against England and Croatia, and beat Senegal to qualify for the second round. At that stage we went out 3-1 to Germany, but it was a close game until they scored two late goals.

The problem with having a formation so heavily fitted to my best players is that it is heavily dependent on those players. If they get injured before or during the Asian Cup at the end of the year, we will become a markedly less effective side. My right back, Boo-Boo*, decided to retire from international football again, as he had after the last East Asian Cup, but luckily once again I have persuaded him to change his mind. He’s only 30. He’ll probably be the best Korean right-back until he’s 40, so hopefully if I am with Korea after the Asian Cup I’ll be able to make the old drama queen keep changing his mind.

Japan still have to be the favourites, even though their side is mostly over 30 now, but at least with the adjustment to the tactics I feel as though we will stand a slight chance.

Having to manage a team for 4 years before the Asian cup is a bit of a slog, so I am hoping for a miracle; again.

*Nearly all my Korean players have nicknames; my starting 11 includes Handsome Hee, Boo-Boo, Sung Sung, Blanket, Johanne Suk, Mindy, Ginnie, Cho-Ho, Chosen.

There’s a guy with joint-Belgian nationality that always refuses my call-ups, so his nickname is Traitor.