treva Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 On 09/06/2020 at 19:05, Britrock said: After looking at it sitting vacant for a few months, I decided to apply for the Ireland job to keep my eye in on international management and they offered me the job without an interview. We're currently 4th in our Euro qualifier group after 3 games having played Norway twice already What a coincidence, I have just taken over Ireland as well. Germany and Wales in our World Cup qualifying group (as well as Armenia and Israel) should be fun. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowy Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 On 17/04/2020 at 13:35, Crowy said: Dortmund 2034/35 Manager Profile: Crowy 2035 Key Players: Hany Gabr ~ Karamoko Diallo ~ Shogo Honda ~ Teun de Vogt ~ Thibaut Guillaume Squad: Overview ~ Match Stats So a quick overview of my season, I did decide to leave Spurs and move to Dortmund. I had a tough time bringing in the players that I wanted this season but thankfully it worked out playing players who weren't suited to their role but had good enough stats. We had a great season in the league we were top after 6 or 7 games and stayed there till the end, we were very poor in the cup competitions Real Madrid absolutely smashed us in the away leg after a 2-2 draw at home. I was going to leave after winning the league but I'm not sure how many more times I'll get a £300M+ transfer budget, so I scouted quite a few players and felt I could finally bring in the players I wanted and I think I'll stay here now untill I win the Champions League or I get sacked (or we go bust ) as I've built an excellent team I feel. I'll do a more in depth update end of next season. CAREER PROGRESS I've been away from this thread for 5 weeks or so I got back in to my FM save the other day and I got to the end of January the season after this one. However went to load my save today and onedrive has deleted all my graphics and saved games etc for FM. Luckily I wiped my computer a few days ago and I backed all my saved games and stuff for when my computer fixed itself. I've lost a couple of months but better than losing so many seasons. I'll probably finish my season tonight and I'll be back to posting updates tomorrow. I've got a lot of catching up to do in this thread as well looking forward to seeing peoples progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 (edited) 1000 games! We could only draw 2-2 with Benfica to commemorate it sadly. Edited June 12, 2020 by Britrock Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwphneb Posted June 12, 2020 Share Posted June 12, 2020 Scott Williams 2037/38 End of Season Review Chelsea FC Recap: This was Scott's fourth season in with Chelsea. He had already won the league and Champions League but had failed to win either of the Cups. Either way this was to be his last year at the club. I'll keep this short as I've had enough of managing in England. Basically we won everything this year. Won the league after 30 games and started to lose once the reserves started featuring. The League Cup was won against Brighton. FA Cup against Derby and UCL against Inter. The World Cup is this summer with Brazil. After that will be looking to move away from Europe to either North America or Asia. Need a bit more of a challenge after the joke of a team that Chelsea had. Personnel Career Hall of Fame Rank: 6 Clubs Managed: 9 Nations Managed: 7 Trophies Won: 27 Runner Up Medals: 10 Manager of the Year: 8 Number of Sackings: 2 (Kaizer Chiefs, Suwon) Career Earnings: £64 Million --------------------------------------------------- Club Career Season NAT Club Division Pos Cup 1 Cup 2 Cont CWC Things to Note 2020 CHI Nublense Primera Div B 6th R2 - - - Playoff Winners, U19s Runners up in Div 1 2021 CHI Curico Unido Primera Div 7th R2 - R1 - 2022 CHI Curico Unido Primera Div 1st Won - R1 - Domestic Double, MOTY 2022/23 ARG CA Union Superliga 17th R5 - - - Avoided Relegation 2023/24 ARG CA Union Superliga 15th R5 - - - Avoided Relegation 2024/25 ARG CA Union Superliga Resigned End of Phase 1 2025/26 RSA Kaizer Chiefs Asba Prem 2nd RU Won - - KO Cup Winners RU in other Comps 2026/27 RSA Kaizer Chiefs Asba Prem 3rd RU R1 Won - Champions League Winners, MOTY 2027 KOR Suwon K League 1 7th - QF - Joined July in 5th, Sakced September 15th 2027/28 ARG Velez Superliga 2nd - - - - Joined December in 8th 2028/29 ARG Velez Superliga 1st Won - QF - Domestic Double 2029/30 ARG Velez Superliga 2nd Won - Won - Copa Libertadores and Copa Argentina Winners, won both Supercups MOTY 2030/31 ENG AFC Bournemouth Premier League 9th R3 R2 - - Somehow won Superliga manager of the year for 2030 2031/32 ITA AC Milan Serie A 6th - - - - Joined with 7 games remaining U18s won the legaue and cup 2032/33 ITA AC Milan Serie A 2nd R1 - R3 UEL - 2033/34 ITA AC Milan Serie A 1st Won - SF - Invincibles! Centurians! League + Cup double 2034/35 ENG Chelsea Premier League 1st R5 QF R1 - League Winners, Super Cup Winners 2035/36 ENG Chelsea Premier League 2nd R5 R3 R1 - Nearly Got the Sack 2036/37 ENG Chelsea Premier League 1st R4 QF Won RU Second League Title and UCL 2037/38 ENG Chelsea Premier League 1st Won Won Won - First Quadruple ---------------------------------------------------- International Career Season Nation Rank Continental World Cup Things to Note 2023 Honduras 67th - - Relegated from Nations League 2024 Honduras 72rd - - Qualified for Gold Cup 2025 2024 Russia 42nd - - 2nd in NL Div B 2026 Russia 30th - 2nd Rnd v SUI Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland 2027 Nigeria 12th RU - AFCON Runners Up, Resigned as Manager 2031 Guinea-Bissau 53rd Won AFCON Winners 2032 Portugal 3rd Won - European Championship Winners 2034 Portugal 4th - RU v Holland Unsure how we haven't won that one 2035 Mexico 13th Won Gold Cup Winners 2036 Mexico 11th 3rd Nations League Winners | 3rd in Copa America 2038 Brazil 1st ----------------------------------------------------- Challenge Progress 4/10 Leagues (Chile; Curico Unido 2022, Argentina; Velez 2028/29, Italy; AC Milan 2033/34, England; Chelsea 2034/35) 5/10 Cups (Copa Chile; Curico Unido 2022, RSA Telkom KO; Kaizer Chiefs 2025/26, Copa Argentina; Velez 2028, Copa Italia; AC Milan 2033/34, FA Cup; Chelsea 2038) 3/5 Continental (Africa; Kaizer Chiefs 2026/27, South America; Velez 2029, Europe; Chelsea 2036/37) 0/1 Worlds 3/5 Continental (AFCON; Guinea-Bissau 2031, EUROS; Portugal 2032, GOLD CUP; Mexico 2035) 0/1 Worlds Total 15/32 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 (edited) Vikeologist's Everton (and France) 2027/28 Report Having taken a timeout to complete the Youth Challenge, I'm back, bitches. I’ve been at Everton for ages, and have the domestic league and cup, but I need to be in the Club World Championship in Summer ’29, so I had 2 years to win the Champions League. It just took the one. I won the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup. I only finished 2nd in the league, and didn’t really challenge our archenemies Liverpool, but that’s probably because of instant resulting nearly all the league matches. So, should I stay the extra year for the Club World Cup? I wish the competition was this summer, because I don’t think anyone can touch us at the moment, apart from maybe Liverpool. However the job at Bayern has become available and I’ve applied for it. I mean, surely they have to give it to me. The trouble is that they’re very unlikely to make it to the CWC in a year’s time, not least because we brushed them aside in the CL quarterfinals ourselves. Top Goalscorer – Dylan Munro – 31 My supposedly world class striker finally put a good season together. He played in 5 matches for us, so it’s not really something out of the ordinary. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Christopher McKay - 7.59 McKay scored 23 goals, and he’s just a winger. Man of The Match – Mc Kay / Munro - 11 Most Valuable Player– Christopher McKay Next up is the European Championship with France. We’re World number 1 and finished top of our Euro Qualifying group, scoring 51 goals, far more than any other nation in Europe, but we lost both our matches to Czechia which was appalling. Thankfully we won all our other matches, some of them by a lot obviously. It will all be forgotten and forgiven if we win the Championship this summer. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 20/21 Folkestone England VNL South 4th Alfie Matthews (SC) Lost in playoff S/F 21/22 Folkestone England VNL South 1st Jobi McAnuff (MR) FA Cup R4, won league by a country mile. 22/23 Folkestone England VNL Conference 1st Dion Rankine (MR) FA Cup R4 again, back to back promotions to the Football League 23/24 Folkestone England League 2 4th and lost in playoff final without me Left after 21 matches with Folkestone in 2nd and on course for 3rd promotion in a row. 23/24 Everton Premier League 11th Alexander Nübel (GK) Took over after 16 matches. Won Carabao Cup. 24/25 Everton Premier League 7th Christopher McKay (MR) Won Carabao Cup (again) and Europa League, thus qualifying for Champions League. 25/26 Everton Premier League 3rd Christopher McKay (MR) Carabao Cup Threepeat, Lost in CL Final. 26/27 Everton Premier League 1st Moise Kean (SC) League / FA Cup Double. 27/28 Everton Premier League 2nd Christopher McKay (MR) Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup Treble International Year Team Achievements 23 Indonesia U23 Topped U23 Asian Nations Cup Qualifying.Quit shortly afterwards. 24-26 Uruguay World Cup S/F 26- France Qualified for Euros Challenge Progress 3/32 Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (England) 1/10 domestic cups (England) 1/5 club continental championships (Europe) 0/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments Edited June 13, 2020 by vikeologist 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 1.FC Magdeburg 2035-36 End-of-Season Review First season at Magdeburg in the books. The aim was to play "defense first" (basic 442), hit on the counter, and win the battle of set pieces to achieve safety. We were largely dreadful defensively (67 concessions, 5 clean sheets), including on set pieces, and not particularly effective at scoring on them ourselves; fortunately, we could be lethal on the counter, especially our Cameroonian #9, Charles Foé, who managed 28 goals and 7 assists in Bundesliga competition. Just missing out on the golden boot. Nearly half of those (13) would come during an insane run of form that saw us win seven straight bridging the winter break. Just as it was starting to look like we might sneak into European football, reality hit, hard. Despite a -12 GD, we'd finish 15-4-14 (50 points), good for 10th place. Almost double what we needed for safety. That was probably well deserved. We were entertaining, if nothing else, but it'd be disingenuous to suggest we're even a remotely good team. Foé carried us. Holding onto him will be vital. We might have two or three young midfielders that can help the cause, but we probably need to upgrade 7-8 starters, and improve depth, if we're to realistically to compete for hardware. That said, my most enjoyable season managing in a while. Now, my focus shifts to Euros. My England side seems to have only gotten better since I took over and we look to have a fairly favorable draw, again. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 3 hours ago, vikeologist said: So, should I stay the extra year for the Club World Cup? I mean, my answer to this is probably a given, but I definitely would if you think you've got a legitimate chance to win it. Seems CWC and Asian Cup are by far the two biggest impediments to completing this challenge, so hard to justify leaving a side with a chance to win for one that may not even qualify. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) Vikeologist's France 2028 Euros Report My last serious attempt at this challenge came up short when I lost 2 Euros Finals in a row with Spain, in extra time and on penalties respectively. (It completely finished when I subsequently lost in the Asian Games final with Australia, and ran out of Asian teams), I know I’ll have other chances if necessary, but we’re #1 in the world. I want this monkey off my back first time round. Group Stage France 6-3 Scotland France 7-1 Croatia France 4-0 Serbia 2nd Round (if applicable) Spoiler France 3-1 Sweden Hopefully this is our bad game out of our system. Sweden scored first, although we pegged them back straight away, and it was late in the second half when we managed to finally make our dominance count. Now we start getting to the nitty gritty with Italy in the next round, Quarter Final (if applicable) Spoiler France 0-1 Italy International football is always my downfall in this challenge. We dominated the game, as always, but as sometimes we just couldn’t score. It was 0-0 after 90 minutes, and Italy scored in extra time, and shut us out. Semi Final (if applicable) Spoiler 3rd Place Playoff / Final (if applicable) Spoiler After The Tournament Spoiler I’ll be sacked, so I resigned in the hopes of it helping me get the Real Madrid job I’d applied for and already had the interview for, but I was still unsuccessful. I also didn’t get the Bayern job I’d applied for, but I probably wouldn’t have taken it because they won’t be at the CWC in a year. Real probably will be though. Looks like I’ll be staying at Everton for another year then, and have to see what international jobs come up after the this tournament. What an awful summer. I was all ready to manage England, I think for the first time in 20 odd years of playing FM, just because my best Everton player Christopher McKay is English. However that’s the one international job I wasn’t offered. So it came down to a choice between Holland and Argentina, and I couldn’t decide, but went for Argentina. In the job merry go round, PSG became available, so I applied for that, but didn't get offered that either, probably because of the Argentina job. Doesn't bode well for the future. Let's hope I win the CWC after all this. Edited June 14, 2020 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 English National Team Euro 2036 Finally! I took this job what feels like forever ago, solely for this competition. We're still using 442, but our playstyle has been transformed by an infusion of midfield talent. For this competition, our most senior midfielder is only 25, with his partners aged 21, 23, and 23. Our wingers are still the catalysts, but we no longer try to win despite our midfield, playing around them. With our talent out wide and up front, we're always in with a chance, but this was the first time entering an international tournament that I've really thought it was ours to lose. The board agreed. Their expectation was to win. Group stage Spoiler Coasted by Austria, Ukraine, and Wales with a combined 12-2 scoreline. We scored more goals than they managed shots on target. 2nd Round Spoiler Switzerland. Played a heavily rotated squad for rest. More of the same. 3-0 at halftime, just saw it out in the second half, trying to conserve energy. They didn't even manage a shot on target. Quarterfinals Spoiler Holland. Expected them to be our biggest obstacle en route to the final, but we were rested and they took ET to get passed Italy. They'd score first off a well-worked 1-2 that slipped Askri (LFC's #9, from Benfica...) through for a 1v1 from a 45° angle. Right at, but through, Brophy. Disappointing. Please don't make me regret returning that #1 shirt! Randall would create something out of nothing, put their keeper on his rear, and equalize. Early in the second half, Anderson (DLF, Real Madrid) would miss a pen, and in the scramble that ensued, Randall would create something out of nothing, again, outworking three Dutch players for the ball before playing it across the 6-yard box to a completely unmarked Granger (LM, Captain, Man City) for a back post tap in. They weren't creating much, so an OG, in the scramble from a Randall indirect free kick a few minutes later sealed it. 3-1. Semifinals Spoiler Belgium. Dangerous in attack, questionable in defense. Our first choice RCB is out (yellow cards) and with only two days rest before the final I had to rotate some. It couldn't have started much better. Anderson buried a towering header inside 5 minutes. Then we wasted chance after chance. Bad feelings. A perfectly weighted through ball from an odd angle would set Brown (2nd choice #9, Burnley) through, tidy finish. 2-0. Great way to start the second half. Still not comfortable. They're creating too many chances for us to not put them away. Penalty, Anderson, WIDE! Momentum, all theirs. Penalty, Benteke (Man City), 2-1. Trying to hold on, but under constant pressure, an equalizer seemed inevitable, and Benteke would deliver in the 89th minute. Extra time. Regretting a couple subs made trying to hold on about now. Want to go for it, but can't risk Anderson taking another penalty, so Randall, our biggest difference maker has to ride it out on the bench. A horribly misplayed long ball would give Benteke a chance to complete his hatrick and be the hero, 1v1, Brophy! Our LCB would get set off for a second yellow late on. Pens. Perhaps still in Benteke's head, Brophy would deny their first and best taker with a diving effort. Neither keeper would come close to another until our LB drilled our 5th, and potential winner, right at their keeper. Make, make, Brophy!!! 5-4. Portugal had already beat France, 1-0... Final Spoiler England vs Portugal, Round 4. This looked close going in and on the stat sheet, but it wasn't. All the bounces seemed to fall our way, 2-0 inside 11 minutes. 4-0 after 90. Crowe (defensive LB and former teammate) would largely contain Portal, Brophy would deny his best chance, and the woodwork would get another. Portal would win another golden boot. Granger and Randall would break (and tie) the assists record, with the latter winning best player. Steele, the 21-year-old midfielder, would win best young player. Brophy, validated as #1. And I can move on, victorious, not because I was fired for botching it. Up next... I've resigned with no intention of managing internationally again for a while. I genuinely don't enjoy it and I've got my work cut out for me with Magdeburg. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Quote Up next... I've resigned with no intention of managing internationally again for a while. I genuinely don't enjoy it and I've got my work cut out for me with Magdeburg. Yep, these international tournaments are no good for the stress levels. Knowing that you only have one shot every 4 years heightens the importance of every match and the quarters and semis always seem to involve ET. Bizarrely, the final always seems to be easier than the previous rounds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 15, 2020 Author Share Posted June 15, 2020 (edited) 28 minutes ago, Britrock said: Yep, these international tournaments are no good for the stress levels. Knowing that you only have one shot every 4 years heightens the importance of every match and the quarters and semis always seem to involve ET. Bizarrely, the final always seems to be easier than the previous rounds And the more you think your team is unbeatable, the more stressful it is. Luckily I was well aware that my France team won by a landfill 4 times out of 5, and were likely to screw the pooch the other. Just played my first couple of matches with Argentina. The second match (against Brazil) was my first chance to see my new (Brazilian) starting goalie in action. We won 5-0. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, both about his performance, and about the fact that the next Copa America is almost 4 years away, and we have to maintain our dominance that long. Note: I know it's landslide, but I think landfill is better. Edited June 15, 2020 by vikeologist Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 (edited) Borussia Dortmund 2030/2031 Clean Sheets, Momentum and Double There wasn’t actually a great deal of jobs available in the summer but one was Dortmund who eventually offered me the job with a hefty transfer kitty to go with it. The transfer budget was spent in a few large chunks as I strengthened what was already a strong Dortmund team. I actually think this is my largest ever transfer outlay, but I’m pleased with the business I managed. Anything other than at least one trophy this season will be a disappointing season. Clean Sheets The task to win the Bundesliga is fairly straight forward, finish ahead of Bayern Munich and you’ve won the league, they’ve won all but two titles since the save began and the last 8 in a row; or at least that was the plan. We got off to a great start in the season, lots of wins and lots of clean sheets, in fact only 3 goals conceded in our first 12 games. At this stage we were 13 points clear of Bayern Munich yet not top, they’d had a bad start and Hoffenheim had a sensational start but I was expecting them to drop off a little so actually quietly confident that we might win the league on our first time of asking, they did actually end the year top owing to us losing the final league game before the winter break is disappointing fashion. The Champions League group stage went largely to plan us qualifying top of our group but a 3 wins and 3 draws isn’t the most convincing of qualification campaigns. Momentum The second half of season started in a similar vein to how the first have did 6 wins on the bounce including a 5-1 demolition job against Bayern Munich, though they did knock us out of the cup a week later. After that run of 5 games we seemed to follow a similar trend to what occurred at Atalanta where we just weren’t playing well but picking up results from what I perceive as the confidence generated with winning momentum. Unlike at Atalanta however, a key factor was that we have some World Class players at our disposal which help to fire us to wins rather than draws when we’re not playing well (and as we were winning for the most part I didn’t fancy trying to fix our performances as the ends justify the means really). Our period of sub-par performances came at a time where we had a Champions League first knockout round to navigate which we managed to do on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw against Roma. As I predicted previously Hoffenheim couldn’t keep up there first half of season form alongside the other teams that were in the mix so had accrued a 14 point lead with 7 games to go making us look well set for the title. Double We ended up securing the league with 5 games to spare but whilst we have a strong team I can’t help but think we’ve got pretty lucky that Bayern Munich had their worst season in 40 years. Another weird thing from our season that despite being the leagues top scorers we had to wait till the 28th game for one of our players to get to double figures for league goals, it ultimately didn’t matter in terms of the league but I expected my striker to easily surpass 20 league goals as he has all the right attributes. We managed to progress to the Champions League Semi-final after another away goals win, this time 3-3 against Manchester United. Our league win did mean we could rotate more for the semi-final, but our opposition PSG did have the same luxury. We dominated the first leg but they did grab an away goal late doors as we won 3-1, the away goal proved decisive as they recorded a comfortable 2-0 victory at Parc de Princes and saw us knocked out at the Semi-Final stage. Considering how good we’ve been results wise this season it is a shame that we’ve only managed to claim one trophy but very good season all the same. Transfers Competitions The ‘Should be 20 goal a season’ Striker Next Season I don’t know whether to move on and try and get another league ticked off or strengthen the squad at Dortmund to give the Champions League another shot, we have £200 million transfer budget so I should be able to add depth where it’s needed. Though if I do leave I don’t necessarily need to win a division next season rather build towards it so that I can try for the Champions League there as well. We’ll see. One thing is for sure however, I really need to start winning domestic cups as I’m lacking on them pretty significantly – another potential reason to stay where I am. The story so far Overall Progress Edited June 15, 2020 by _JHTB_ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 9 hours ago, Britrock said: Yep, these international tournaments are no good for the stress levels. Knowing that you only have one shot every 4 years heightens the importance of every match and the quarters and semis always seem to involve ET. Bizarrely, the final always seems to be easier than the previous rounds I mean, that's definitely part of it, but I think it's the lack of depth that makes it hard for me to get into it. There's no squad management, no training, no relationships, no meaningful staffing, the conversations are largely irrelevant, etc. Managing a top international side should be a 'full time' gig, with a lot more involvement, not a side hustle. I should be able to tell player A that they don't quite fit our tactical setup, but if they improve X, get more comfortable playing further forward, and develop their weak foot, then they'd be in contention for a spot in the squad for competition Y . Or, I should be able to tell player B that I hate to drop them, but they're no longer a first-team regular for their club, so not reliably match fit, in good form, etc., encouraging them to pursue a transfer if they want to make the squad, etc. Also, I find the competitions themselves are entirely too much of a crapshoot. It seems like some of the draws can be horribly unrealistic and upsets are turned up to 11. They need to happen, they're one of the great things about sports, but Ireland going through Brazil, Spain, and France, en route to making a WC Final (when I've never even had any Irish leagues loaded) seems a bit much. In that World Cup, Portugal was the only top 10, maybe even top 20 (not sure how high Ireland was going into it), side I faced. My path with England was similarly farcical, but at least I faced a legit contender in the final. Then on top of all that, it seems the AI does an absolutely dreadful job of managing their squad/fatigue at times. It's not consistent, but there are times when it's clear they haven't rotated/subbed strategically, and key player(s) are going into a knockout match horribly fatigued or not even in the lineup. That definitely happens on the club side of things, but it's usually not as drastic, or impactful. I guess that's all to say, there's the stressful component you mentioned, but they haven't felt that rewarding for me to win despite that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treva Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 (edited) I never thought that after a treble winning season I'd want to quit a save, but here we are... FA Cup and Champions League was our goal this season. We made the finals of both and at 2-1 up after the first leg of the Champions League final I thought we had pulled off the perfect season. What would unfold in the second leg has made me question whether I even want to continue. The league was a breeze. We only lost twice and only drew twice, smashing everyone even with squad rotation. Juan Hernandez, who has been at the club since I joined, scored 27 league goals to break the CSL record for a single season tally. We won the league with four games to spare, two better than in 2028, and our reserves also won the league. To add to that, we beat Guangzhou R&F in the Super Cup at the beginning of the season. The FA Cup was pretty straight forward and as soon as we dispatched Shandong 2-0 in the semi final I fancied our chances over two legs vs Beijing. We smashed them 4-1 in the first leg at home and kept it tight in the second to draw 0-0 and clinch the treble. In the Champions league we started poorly. We lost to Busan and drew to Newcastle Jets but bounced back to win our next four group matches and eventually top the group. Drawing Chonqinq in the second round was pretty straight forward before we took on Jeonbuk in the Quarter Final. A 3-2 win at home put us in control but they scored a penalty in the second leg and looked to be heading through on away goals before a late header dragged us level and we held on for an aggregate victory. Seoul in the Semi Final should have been tougher but we beat them 3-1 away before holding them to a 1-1 draw at home to book our place in the final. Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad were waiting, a club that had won the Champions League three times since my career began, as well as losing a final, so we knew they would be tough. We beat them 2-1 at home thanks to a late screamer from Hernandez. The second leg we hit the post early only for them to counter and take the lead. They scored again to make it 2-0 after 11 minutes before they had a man sent off for a second yellow. Then Hernandez went off injured and for the entire second half, in classic FM style against 10-men, we didn't create a single chance. They scored a header late as we pressed to make it 3-0. Could have genuinely cried. Now I'm left not knowing what to do. I don't want to endure another season in China winning everything and not caring about a single result except in the Champions League in the hope that we don't get our heart broken yet again. But on the flip side I'll probably not have a better chance to win the AFC Champions League than with Dalian. Any suggestions how best to handle this are appreciated - I'm not used to holidaying games and what not. I also took over as Ireland manager. The task was to qualify for the World Cup which we failed to do. Two 1-0 losses against Wales did for us, although we managed to win both our games vs Israel and Armenia and gained a point off Germany. They sacked me after finishing third - just one win against Wales could have put us through, but oh well. Here is how the career stands after 10 years: Challenge Progress Club 2/10 Top Domestic Leagues: Indonesian Liga 1 (x2), Chinese Super League (x2) 2/10 Domestic Cups: Piala Indonesia (x2), Yanjing Beer Chinese FA Cup 0/5 Club Continental Championships: 0/1 Club World Championship: International 0/5 Continental Tournaments: 0/1 World Tournaments: Edited June 15, 2020 by treva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Quote Now I'm left not knowing what to do. I don't want to endure another season in China winning everything and not caring about a single result except in the Champions League in the hope that we don't get our heart broken yet again. But on the flip side I'll probably not have a better chance to win the AFC Champions League than with Dalian. Any suggestions how best to handle this are appreciated - I'm not used to holidaying games and what not. I did it in China and South Africa and it's pretty soul sucking tbh. In China I played all the games and won the league by a ridiculous amount (28 pts or something absurd) and got the champions league but in SA I used instant result for everything but the champions league and that was almost worse as I felt I had no control over things (there were too many games in SA to play them all though). Unless you want to get a job in SK though, China is easily your best shot at the Asian CL and do you want to have to come back with another team later on to slog through it? I did it to get it out of the way so I never had to think about it again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 I didn't mind South Africa. I'm still kinda bummed Tuks wouldn't give me money to compete and Pirates wouldn't bring me on board, so I couldn't make a real run at CAF CL then. Can't help wondering how differently my save would have gone. China was absolutely dreadful though. So glad I was able to get the AFC CL out of the way in that first full season. I don't think I could have stood another season in China had I lost in the AFC CL final. Would probably move on, try other leagues, then try to come back and poach it somewhere down the line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 16, 2020 Author Share Posted June 16, 2020 6 hours ago, XuluBak said: I didn't mind South Africa. I'm still kinda bummed Tuks wouldn't give me money to compete and Pirates wouldn't bring me on board, so I couldn't make a real run at CAF CL then. Can't help wondering how differently my save would have gone. China was absolutely dreadful though. So glad I was able to get the AFC CL out of the way in that first full season. I don't think I could have stood another season in China had I lost in the AFC CL final. Would probably move on, try other leagues, then try to come back and poach it somewhere down the line. Do you at least have the instant result skin? Can't you make Dalian even better / unbeatable? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treva Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Britrock said: I did it in China and South Africa and it's pretty soul sucking tbh. In China I played all the games and won the league by a ridiculous amount (28 pts or something absurd) and got the champions league but in SA I used instant result for everything but the champions league and that was almost worse as I felt I had no control over things (there were too many games in SA to play them all though). Unless you want to get a job in SK though, China is easily your best shot at the Asian CL and do you want to have to come back with another team later on to slog through it? I did it to get it out of the way so I never had to think about it again! 7 hours ago, XuluBak said: I didn't mind South Africa. I'm still kinda bummed Tuks wouldn't give me money to compete and Pirates wouldn't bring me on board, so I couldn't make a real run at CAF CL then. Can't help wondering how differently my save would have gone. China was absolutely dreadful though. So glad I was able to get the AFC CL out of the way in that first full season. I don't think I could have stood another season in China had I lost in the AFC CL final. Would probably move on, try other leagues, then try to come back and poach it somewhere down the line. 27 minutes ago, vikeologist said: Do you at least have the instant result skin? Can't you make Dalian even better / unbeatable? Thanks for the responses guys. I’m thinking of downloading a skin that has instant result - I’m assuming there’s no issues with doing that mid save? I think I’m going to have to stick it out. In theory I can just sign a few more top Chinese players and come back even stronger, although the board do like to block transfers despite a £250mil transfer budget. Just makes me sick thinking no matter what happens we could have a game like the 2nd leg of the final and it we all be over again (still can’t believe we had no chances whatsoever against 10-men in the second half). I think what’s most annoying about AFC Champions League is the fact it starts in January but doesn’t end until November - so unnecessarily dragged out. Edited June 16, 2020 by treva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, treva said: Thanks for the responses guys. I’m thinking of downloading a skin that has instant result - I’m assuming there’s no issues with doing that mid save? I think I’m going to have to stick it out. In theory I can just sign a few more top Chinese players and come back even stronger, although the board do like to block transfers despite a £250mil transfer budget. Just makes me sick thinking no matter what happens we could have a game like the 2nd leg of the final and it we all be over again (still can’t believe we had no chances whatsoever against 10-men in the second half). I think what’s most annoying about AFC Champions League is the fact it starts in January but doesn’t end until November - so unnecessarily dragged out. What I'd say to wary about is that international call ups for the World Cup (and the U23 Asian Cup) may fall on dates in which you're playing Champions League knockouts, they are what really messed me over when I was trying for the Asian Champions League in a World Cup year. There shouldn't be any issue with getting and instant result skin mid-save either, I imagine at some point I may do so myself Edited June 16, 2020 by _JHTB_ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 I can't imagine doing this challenge without an instant result skin. Way too much opportunity for meaningless, or otherwise uninteresting matches, especially when chasing specific trophies. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treva Posted June 16, 2020 Share Posted June 16, 2020 3 hours ago, _JHTB_ said: What I'd say to wary about is that international call ups for the World Cup (and the U23 Asian Cup) may fall on dates in which you're playing Champions League knockouts, they are what really messed me over when I was trying for the Asian Champions League in a World Cup year. There shouldn't be any issue with getting and instant result skin mid-save either, I imagine at some point I may do so myself That’s an excellent point. It’s 2030 which is a World Cup year. Could be a recipe for disaster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 1.FC Magdeburg 2036-37 End-of-Season Review Heading into the summer our top priorities were extending Foé and improving defensively. With the former addressed, and bargain shopping landing us a left back from Columbia, keeper from Dortmund (B), and a more-defensively capable deep-lying playmaker from Schalke (B), all first-choice upgrades, for a very affordable €4.2M, we were able to splash €11M+ on an athletic giant from Southampton to anchor our backline. We also did some housecleaning and filled out our matchday squad with free transfers and a loanee backup RB. All said, pretty happy with our summer dealings. Preseason friendlies were encouraging as well. This season kicked off much likely last: beating down a minnow in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, followed by a title contender returning the favor to kick off the Bundesliga season. After clean sheet wins against a couple bottom half sides, we held out against Bayern, for 86 minutes, before they finally found the back of the net. All things considered, a very encouraging 0-1 against the defending champs (then 13, now 14, times running). Overall, we'd prove much improved defensively, reducing our goals allowed from 67 to 49. Over half a goal per game improvement. Unfortunately, our defensive improvements were overshadowed by some devastating droughts in front of goal. We went from lethal on counters to completely inept. Despite our defensive improvements, our goal differential actually got worse (from -12 to -18). Foé went from being one of the surprise stars in all of Europe to someone I struggled to even put on the pitch. 28/7 in Bundesliga matches last year to 5/0 this year. The stretch on either side of the winter break was especially brutal, as we managed to score one meaningful goal in 2.5 months (9 matches). It was a run of poor form that never seemed like it would end. After numerous tactical tweaks, and a couple overhauls, we ended up finishing out the season in a 532 (WB). It wasn't always pretty, and there certainly wasn't a consistent source, but we'd start finding the net, and ultimately secure safety fairly comfortably, with an underwhelming 38 points. It was disappointing to make such significant improvements defensively, only to finish markedly worse overall, but ultimately, it's about surviving to build the squad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Borussia Dortmund 2031/32 Disaster, Wins and Disaster again As I wasn’t sure whether I was going to stay or leave I decided to conduct my transfer business as if I were staying but being on the lookout for potential jobs, and had completed the main bulk of my signings by mid may. After that I applied to two jobs, the Chelsea job which I rejected (I wasn’t their first choice and the budget didn’t seem enough) and the England job, which Dortmund almost sacked me for declaring interest in. So I am staying at Dortmund, I’m very happy with where the squad is at and think a rotated XI would still be too strong for most teams in our league. Disaster Our season again got off to a great start, with us winning the Super Cup before winning our first 4 league games without conceding. Following that however, we did equal our losses for last season after just 7 games which was pretty disappointing. We won the following game before 3 games without scoring – even looking like scoring saw us lose in the Champions League, draw in the league and get knocked out of the cup to a team we should have been easily beating. After getting knocked out the cup I was already looking to see if any potential jobs were available which does seem a little defeatist as we were still likely to qualify from our Champions League group and still near enough the top of the league. Wins There wasn’t any jobs that were worth going for, plus I think once I’d got over the disappointment I didn’t want to leave anyway and immediately following the cup game we went on what was probably the best run of results for any team I’ve managed so far with 16 wins on the bounce in all competitions and the first 7 of those we didn’t concede a single goal. Disaster again Unfortunately, the winning run that we were on was ended in the Champions League knockout with us losing the first leg against Chelsea 1-0 meaning we had it all to do in the second leg for this season to mean anything. We continued our winning form in the league so when the second leg rolled around I was fairly confident that we’d be able to win and as we’d conceded just 2 home goals in all competitions until that point I rated our chances of not conceding an away goal. Of course, we conceded an early goal before battering them but only managing to win 2-1 and out of the Champions League, such a demoralising loss as it ultimately means this season is pretty much a wasted year which is frustrating considering just how dominant we’ve been this season. I had planned to play out the season, but I did get a job offer which I took saying farewell to Borussia Dortmund before the end of the season. The Winning Run Chelsea Match Stats How the league was looking Next Season The board at the new club want us to win the title next season, but this season is still all to play for so my aim is to just do as well as I can for the remainder of this season. The story so far Overall Progress Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwphneb Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Scott Williams 2038 World Cup Third attempt at the World Cup, this time Scott is in charge of the world number 1. It was a good reunion in the group as Scott's Brazil were joined by former teams Nigeria and Russia. Two wins and onto the second round. Second Round Spoiler Ukraine 2 - 1 Brazil Ah, didn't quite go to plan. Andriy Schevchenko, in his 22nd year in charge of Ukraine gets a very respectable 4th place in the 2038 World Cup. Scott is sacked after 18 months in charge. Third Round Spoiler Only non European nation to make it out of the third round is Mexico. Hosts, South Africa, knocked out by holders Holland Quarter Final Spoiler Holland are out to Spain, who have been missing from final stages for too long Semi Final Spoiler Portugal and Ukraine will battle it out for 3rd. Whilst Italy and Spain go through to the final Final Spoiler Italy get their hands on the trophy for the third time. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 AC Milan - 2039/40 season review We absolutely walked the league, ending up with 102 points, +85 goal difference and winning the league by 19 points. Napoli kept it fairly close for the first half of the season until we came back from a goal down to beat them 2-1 and establish a 7 point lead. From there no-one could keep up with us and we won it with 4 games left to play The Coppa Italia was fairly easy as well, beating Napoli in the final The Champions League was the only downer on the season. We made it to the final with ease, the only real struggle as Benfica in the group stages. But then the final happened. We took the lead, but Liverpool equalised after about 70 minutes and then heartbreak - they scored a winner in the 94th minute! I've got no interest in staying in Italy any longer having won the league and cup, I've already applied for Schalke, Valencia and Liverpool (their manager left to go to Dortmund weirdly). I've got the Euros this summer with Ireland, which I thought I'd missed out on after finishing 3rd in the group but we went into a playoff tournament where we beat both Poland and Wales 1-0 to qualify. I've got Germany, Belgium and Serbia in my group so I don't think I'll be going too far. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 (edited) Sporting Kansas City: 2032 I don’t like it and 33 Days Well, as mentioned in the last update I was planning to stay at Dortmund until the end of the season, but we got a chance to ‘pull a vike’ as Sporting Kansas City were in the Semi-Final of the CONCACAF Champions League I don’t like it This is my first impression of managing in the MLS on football manager and less than a week in I don’t like it already squad rules seem weird I mistakenly clicked to sign someone on waiver which meant two players I’d just brought in to play Champions League were also waivered as I couldn’t register them. The first leg of the semi-final was actually our second game where the first we’d managed a strong 3-0 and we were against Mexican side Santos Laguna. The scout report of their team showed them probably being better than us though we went 3-0 in the first leg, unfortunately 2 goals in the last 10 minutes gave them 2 away goals and only a one goal deficit. I was fully expecting us to lose the second leg convincingly having played 2 games in the 7 days since the first leg with a very small squad and when they scored after 10 minutes I was fearing the worst, but in a absolutely mental game we managed to win 5-4 on the night to get to the Final against another Mexican side in Pachuca 33 days From my early assessment of the squad it’s obvious that we’re a very top heavy side, so we’ll have to focus on outscoring the opposition rather than limiting their chances which tends to be my playstyle anyway and it seems to be working. Leading up to the final first leg we won all three of our games which is a great way to go into the game. In what is a fairly common theme for me, they scored an early away goal but we did battle back to win 2-1 on the night. Going into the second leg I was conscious that we’d scored in each of the 10 games I’ve had in charge thus far so was quietly confident of wiping out the away goal. We did, this time it was our turn to get an early goal though they did equalise on the night soon after. The second half saw them get a penalty to level the tie before we got a second away goal to put us ahead on aggregate, and despite them having 3 disallowed goals late on we survived to claim the CONCACAF Champions League. I resigned straight away leaving my total time at the club a mere 33 days. I achieved what I had hoped even if we were a little lucky and the MLS rules are too confusing for me to want to stay to get a cup or league win, and really I was possibly going to resign if we’d have lost in the Champions League also. In my limited time here I’m very happy with the results I managed to get but a threadbare squad meant that form was likely to wane somewhat. My Tenure Next Season Back to the job search again, my reputation should be high enough that I’ll be able to get myself a decent job though I’m not sure which continent it’ll be in as I’ve still to get the Asian, African and European Champions Leagues. With how it’s worked out the season that I was in at Dortmund hasn’t actually finished so it’ll be a month or so before jobs become available. I really need to hope I can get an international job after the summer tournaments I reckon as the international tournaments are something I’ve not come close to yet. The story so far Overall Progress Edited June 19, 2020 by _JHTB_ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treva Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 Well, you just knew it was going to happen. We've not even made it out of the AFC Champions League Group Stages. Dominated every game but somehow lost to Jeonbuk and Sydney at home to my disbelief. Wins against Kitchee kept us in it but a 0-0 draw away to Jeonbuk, despite having 30 shots, saw us bow out. I have to laugh. We won the Super Cup again and have only lost once in the league, having made improvements with three big Chinese signings in the off season. Anyway, time to resign. The AFC Champions League could well be the bane of my career. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 @Britrock Hell of a season there. Have you considered entering it in the Records thread for most points and most goals in a 38 match season? It might not last long though, because I'm having a similar league season. In any case, I'm going to take yours as the record for now, and only enter mine if I beat 102 points and 106 goals. (Or i might enter mine as a record if you don't post your record and I equal one or both of them. Trouble is I've drawn a couple of games lately and have 82 points from 31 games, so I will need to win my last 7 to beat your points mark). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 @vikeologist that was on my list of things to do at some point, yeah. I hadn't even realised we'd hit 106 goals! I used instant result for the last 8 or so games as the league was in the bag so I lost track of things like that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crowy Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) 2035/36 Manager Profile: Crowy 2036 Key Players: Fancisco Andreu ~ Alejandro Tomas ~ Karamoko Diallo ~ Wayne Clarke ~ Alper Arda Squad: Overview ~ Match Stats Competitions Overview Quick look at the competitions overview, my main focus was on winning the cup this season but that ended very quickly, we had a great season in the league only going on to lose two games. Bayern pushed up up until the final two games as I had to rotate but we eventually got the job done. I'd already won the league the year before too so no need for a big update on it. I will say I've shown 5 key players at the top but I have like 9 that are at least 4 1/2 star ability in my team, I spent a lot over the last couple of seasons and that was one of the main reason I stayed after last season. Dortmunds finances are insane this far in to my save. Group Stage Results I don't remember too much about the group stage I played it so long ago, the one stand out game for me that I do remember was the 3-2 against Arsenal where we were 2-0 down and we managed to turn it around and win. Overall though happy to get through that group stage with 6 wins out of 6. 1st KO Round Only thing I remember about this one also was Jens Dawid coming in at the end of January for £1.7M due to his contract expiring at the end of the season, and being thrown in as first team striker for the next month or so due to my striker getting injured. He put is in control after his first leg brace. I'm still amazed his value is so low I think he looks a very good striker with those attributes. Quarter Final Memory restored! Coming in to this game I felt fairly confident in the league this season I had already beaten Bayern 3-0 and 3-1. The first leg was pretty tight going in to the 80th minute 2-1 and Bayern having their away goal, I was thinking the away leg would be tough. Luckily we popped up with and 84th and 90+3 minute goals to make the game seem more comfortable than perhaps it was. In the second leg I felt Bayern could still be a threat but once we got a goal inside the first 5 minutes I knew it was game over at this point and the game pretty much played out similarly to the first leg. Semi Final Our toghest opponents yet, Real Madrid. In the first leg we were slightly the better team but looked like we wouldn't be able to break them down at home, things got worse on the 72nd minute when Diallo got himself sent off so had to change my formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-1-2-1-1 diamond sort of shape due to only having one winger left on the pitch and amazingly it worked 88th minute Giminez popped up with the winner. In the second leg Real Madrid were slightly the better team the stats are identical from the first leg just switched over, we were hanging on at 0-0 made our final sub in the 80th minute and got an injury a couple of minutes later to put us down to 10 men, i decided to make the changes as I did in the first leg and somehow in the 88th minute again who pops up? Yes Osvaldo Gimenez again... He was a bit part player in our season but I was grateful he could cover up front as well for these games where I had no where else to put him. Final We had drawn our rivals Schalke in the final I'd had a couple of close games with them this season and they knocked us out of the cup. So I was expecting a tight game but we played perfectly at a time when it mattered we had 4x more shots 4x more on target than them in this match and we were comfortable going in to half time a 2-0. Then things suddenly changed in the 80th minute where Schalke got a goal back and they were knocking on the door a bit, but then 5 minutes later or so we scored from a corner to put the tie to bed and finally get another trophy off my list. Edit: I've only just realised I'd gone through the Champions League winning every single game, not a great achievement but it is for me CAREER PROGRESS Edited June 19, 2020 by Crowy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 16 hours ago, treva said: Well, you just knew it was going to happen. We've not even made it out of the AFC Champions League Group Stages. Dominated every game but somehow lost to Jeonbuk and Sydney at home to my disbelief. Wins against Kitchee kept us in it but a 0-0 draw away to Jeonbuk, despite having 30 shots, saw us bow out. I have to laugh. We won the Super Cup again and have only lost once in the league, having made improvements with three big Chinese signings in the off season. Anyway, time to resign. The AFC Champions League could well be the bane of my career. Brutal. At least with Asia you have other leagues as options, so you could knock out a cup or league title along the way. Go somewhere enjoyable, worry about AFC CL later. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 17 hours ago, _JHTB_ said: This is my first impression of managing in the MLS on football manager and less than a week in I don’t like it already squad rules seem weird I mistakenly clicked to sign someone on waiver which meant two players I’d just brought in to play Champions League were also waivered as I couldn’t register them... Yeah, I'm sure something like that happens to everyone they first time they play MLS. The rules are obnoxiously complicated and FMs UI isn't very intuitive or well designed for handling some of the nuances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 18 hours ago, Britrock said: The Champions League was the only downer on the season. We made it to the final with ease, the only real struggle as Benfica in the group stages. But then the final happened. We took the lead, but Liverpool equalised after about 70 minutes and then heartbreak - they scored a winner in the 94th minute! You got Portal'd and he's not even in your save! I'm amazed you scored that many goals, without one of your strikers running away with the golden boot. Doesn't look like you had anyone even in contention. What'd your goal distribution look like? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 1 hour ago, Britrock said: @vikeologist that was on my list of things to do at some point, yeah. I hadn't even realised we'd hit 106 goals! I used instant result for the last 8 or so games as the league was in the bag so I lost track of things like that! Some of those records might not last long. I've won 3 of the last 7 games in a row I needed, including a last minute title clincher away to 2nd place Man Utd. Sorry to make you go to the trouble of proving those records just so I can beat you, but I haven't beaten any of them yet, and as I say, need to be perfect to beat the points one. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 In the process of updating my spreadsheet... I'll save you the time on points, my second season at Liverpool we took 106 points. You got us on goals and GD though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 15 minutes ago, XuluBak said: In the process of updating my spreadsheet... I'll save you the time on points, my second season at Liverpool we took 106 points. You got us on goals and GD though. I haven't had an unbeaten season in years. Well done. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 1 hour ago, XuluBak said: Yeah, I'm sure something like that happens to everyone they first time they play MLS. The rules are obnoxiously complicated and FMs UI isn't very intuitive or well designed for handling some of the nuances. I think I'd probably be more on board with it if I was at the start of a season so I had chance to properly evaluate everything but given I had not long to try and hit the ground running it was a tad overwhelming. Still glad I got it over and done with but maybe in the future I'll give learning the nuances a go Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 28 minutes ago, XuluBak said: In the process of updating my spreadsheet... I'll save you the time on points, my second season at Liverpool we took 106 points. You got us on goals and GD though. I can't get an undefeated season for the life of me. There's always one game, usually around game 20 or so against a team in mid-table obscurity, that we just don't turn up for and lose 2-0. 1 hour ago, XuluBak said: You got Portal'd and he's not even in your save! I'm amazed you scored that many goals, without one of your strikers running away with the golden boot. Doesn't look like you had anyone even in contention. What'd your goal distribution look like? I'll need to get a screenshot of my squad later, I think my starting front 3 and my backup ST all had 15-20 goals though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 12 minutes ago, vikeologist said: I haven't had an unbeaten season in years. Well done. That team was ridiculous. the job only came available because of an epic collapse, then I had crazy money to build on it each summer. I think I could have split that team in two, and they would have challenged each other for the title. It was that good/deep. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 Arsenal ended my dreams if an unbeaten league season. Then they beat us in the League Cup final. Now we're meeting them in the FA Cup final, and they're in the other Campions League semifinal. I don't care, as long as they, or anybody else, donlt beat us in the Club World Championship. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 13 minutes ago, Britrock said: I can't get an undefeated season for the life of me. There's always one game, usually around game 20 or so against a team in mid-table obscurity, that we just don't turn up for and lose 2-0. Little One woke up, so can't look at the moment, but pretty sure Portal bailed us out late in (at least) one of those games to save it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 Cassino is a club icon at ST, Romano played IFa at AML, Di Minico is a wonderkid who is the second choice behind Cassino, Spiazzi is another club icon who played IFs at AMR, Lorieri was the AMC and Hoek played RPM at DM. Cassino btw, is insanely good. He was the greatest player in the world for a good few years and has won the Ballon D'or 4 times, including 3 times in a row from 2033-35. He has a career average rating of 7.79 over 540 games! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjwphneb Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) Scott Williams 2039 Asian Cup Iran After the shocking World Cup performance with Brazil, The first (real) opportunity to manage an Asian national side came up. The two options were Iran or Japan. Iran had a much better side with a number of players featuring in Europe's top 5 leagues. With 6 months in charge before the Asian Cup started there wasn't long to get to know his best team. Group Stage Iran 4 - 0 Malaysia Iran 2 - 2 China Iran 12 - 0 Kyrgyzstan Second Round Spoiler Iran 10 - 1 Bahrain. 22 goals in the last two games for Iran. Japan knocked out to Jordan Quarter Final Spoiler Iran 2 - 1 Quatar. An early red card for Iran's RB didn't stop them from coming back from a goal down to progress to the semis. Semi Final Spoiler Iran 1 - 0 Jordan. Solid performance from Jordan to get this far. Australia beat Saudi Arabia to progress to the final with Iran. Final Spoiler Iran 0 - 0 Australia (5-6 on penalties) Sigh. Poor man management from Scott meant that the best peanlty takers couldn't be brought on. The poor fella who missed had 5 6 3 for Finishing, Composure, Pen Taking. Saying that The top Penalty taker had missed two in previous rounds. Scott now has a silver medal in the Asian Cup to add to his Club World Cup and World Cup silvers. Another 4 years until the next chance to win it with his best player at 29 years old It's likely he will retire from the international stage before then. Hopefully a gem appears from somewhere to replace him. EDIT: That didn't take long, one click of the continue button and "Pourmousavi ends international career" 91 goals in 108 appearances from the left wing isn't bad going International Career Season Nation Rank Continental World Cup Things to Note 2023 Honduras 67th - - Relegated from Nations League 2024 Honduras 72rd - - Qualified for Gold Cup 2025 2024 Russia 42nd - - 2nd in NL Div B 2026 Russia 30th - 2nd Rnd v SUI Topped Group, Lost to Switzerland 2027 Nigeria 12th RU - AFCON Runners Up, Resigned as Manager 2031 Guinea-Bissau 53rd Won AFCON Winners 2032 Portugal 3rd Won - European Championship Winners 2034 Portugal 4th - RU v Holland Unsure how we haven't won that one 2035 Mexico 13th Won Gold Cup Winners 2036 Mexico 11th 3rd Nations League Winners | 3rd in Copa America 2038 Brazil 1st - 2nd Rnd v UKR Lost to Ukraine 2039 Iran 33rd RU v Australia ----------------------------------------------------- Challenge Progress 4/10 Leagues (Chile; Curico Unido 2022, Argentina; Velez 2028/29, Italy; AC Milan 2033/34, England; Chelsea 2034/35) 5/10 Cups (Copa Chile; Curico Unido 2022, RSA Telkom KO; Kaizer Chiefs 2025/26, Copa Argentina; Velez 2028, Copa Italia; AC Milan 2033/34, FA Cup; Chelsea 2038) 3/5 Continental (Africa; Kaizer Chiefs 2026/27, South America; Velez 2029, Europe; Chelsea 2036/37) 0/1 Worlds 3/5 Continental (AFCON; Guinea-Bissau 2031, EUROS; Portugal 2032, GOLD CUP; Mexico 2035) 0/1 Worlds Total 15/32 In club football Scott has made the return to South Korea with FC Seoul, Scott couldn't quite close the gap on the AFC Champions League places in the 8 games he had in charge so will be staying in Korea for at least the next couple of years. Annoyingly Suwon (the side that sacked Scott after 60 something days) managed to dethrown Jeonbuk who had won 13 out of the last 15 league campaigns. Lots of money for Scott so this season should be a competetive one. Edited June 19, 2020 by bjwphneb Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 26 minutes ago, Britrock said: Cassino btw, is insanely good. He was the greatest player in the world for a good few years and has won the Ballon D'or 4 times, including 3 times in a row from 2033-35. He has a career average rating of 7.79 over 540 games! Surprised he hasn't reached legendary status. More technical, less athletic than Portal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XuluBak Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 1 hour ago, XuluBak said: Little One woke up, so can't look at the moment, but pretty sure Portal bailed us out late in (at least) one of those games to save it. Yeah, not so much. One draw was 0-0. Two of them we blew a late lead. And the third Portal equalized early in the first half and neither team scored again. Plenty of Portal heroics throughout my save, but none in that league season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 57 minutes ago, XuluBak said: Surprised he hasn't reached legendary status. More technical, less athletic than Portal. He was way more athletic but he's 35 now so those attributes are starting to fall off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 If you can't beat them, join them. Hopefully goes better than my last attempt at England. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
treva Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, XuluBak said: Brutal. At least with Asia you have other leagues as options, so you could knock out a cup or league title along the way. Go somewhere enjoyable, worry about AFC CL later. Couldn’t agree more. I’ll return to Asia with a K League club some time down the line. As for going somewhere I’ll enjoy, I’ve chosen my next club based on the night life: Tijuana. Edited June 19, 2020 by treva Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vikeologist Posted June 20, 2020 Author Share Posted June 20, 2020 Vikeologist's Everton (and Argentina) 2028/29 Report Arsenal ruined a perfect season. They inflicted our only league defeat, and also beat us in our 6th straight Carabao Final But that was it. Apart from a fairly meaningless defat to Milan in the Champions League group stage we won everything else during the regular season; League, 3rd straight FA Cup (against Arsenal – nice), Champions League, and of course the Charity Shield and European Super Cup. I’m still not in the Worldwide Hall of Fame. That’s not really a surprise. One doesn’t normally get into it in this challenge because you tend to move on from a club after winning a couple of things. One of you got into it recently and I was surprised, but having won so much with Everton, I should get into it soon. Maybe very soon. Because all of my trophies this season were just meaningless prologue. I stayed the whole season for 2 reasons; to win the Club World Cup, (and because Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern all made the mistake of not hiring me last summer. Bayern actually turned me down again during the CWC. Admittedly in the interview I said that I would only take over after the ‘World Cup’. Honestly I’m not sure if this referred to the CWC or the international one. I only said this to Bayern in order to find out which it meant). So, screw it. Let’s do a Vikeologist's Everton 2029 Club World Championship Report Group Stage Everton 5-0 NYCFC Everton 8-0 Beijing I could have run the scores up here, especially against Beijing, but most players go into the CWC tired, so I played ultra defensive for most of the matches. A really tough match against PSG in the quarter finals just 2 days later, but then again, with 8 European teams in the competition, it could be worse. Quarter Final (if applicable) Spoiler Everton 2-1 PSG They gave us a hell of a fright, going up 1-0 after 5 minutes, and even when they had a player sent off in the second half with us 2-1 up, it was never comfortable. If things go wrong, I do have a potential out by the way. Atletico Madrid have offered me a job, and they’re in the other semi-final, so if we lose against Real Madrid, I may be able to vike my way to the final, though I’d prefer to take the job I’ve been offered at Barcelona instead. Just not sure I can keep delaying them till the end of the competition though. Semi Final (if applicable) Spoiler Everton 5-4 Real Madrid This match was ridiculous. At one point we went 3-1 down. We got the score back to 3-3 by going gung ho, but then conceded again. We scored twice in the last 10 minutes to send us through. Those 3 sentences can’t begin to tell the story, or describe the stress. Atletico lost the other semi, so we won’t be playing a team waiting for me to accept the job there. Instead it’s 2nd best in England, and seemingly the world, Man Utd. Atletico may well get me as Barcelona won’t let me delay a decision on their job offer any more. I just needed 3 more days. 3rd Place Playoff / Final (if applicable) Spoiler Everton 4-0 Man Utd As is often the way with these things, the final itself was a lot less stressful than the journey to get there. After The Tournament Spoiler Now I need to decide whether to take the Atletico job. Obviously they have a bit of money having finished 3rd in this competition, and are in the Champions League, but I’m not sure their playing squad will fit easily into my tactics. They seem to have a squad full of attacking midfielders, and not much else. Also I’ve scouted pretty much the whole team, and they don’t have any very good players. I don’t think one of them would get anywhere near my Everton first team, so I think I’m going to have to turn them down. I’d have to rebuild the entire team. I need a team that is already fit for purpose. Oh, Barcelona. I would have treated you like a Queen. Oh well, a suitable job will come up some time, and I don’t have to worry about the Champions League or World Club Championship. And it means I can get to the World Cup with Argentina quicker. Oh, and now I am in the Worldwide Hall of Fame. Top Goalscorer – Dylan Munro – 37 Was second before the CWC to my 3rd choice striker, partly because of injuries, but 7 goals in the 5 matches elevated him to his natural place. Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Christopher McKay - 7.73 Stat taken after 1st CWC match before nation reset. 32 assists. Man of The Match – Mc Kay / Romário Baró - 8 Most Valuable Player– Christopher McKay He’s been my MVP 4 of the last 5 seasons. I'm also manager of Argentina. We've won all 8 of the World Cup Qualifiers since I took over, and have qualified already. Roll on next summer. Domestic Season Team Division Position MVP Notes 20/21 Folkestone England VNL South 4th Alfie Matthews (SC) Lost in playoff S/F 21/22 Folkestone England VNL South 1st Jobi McAnuff (MR) FA Cup R4, won league by a country mile. 22/23 Folkestone England VNL Conference 1st Dion Rankine (MR) FA Cup R4 again, back to back promotions to the Football League 23/24 Folkestone England League 2 4th and lost in playoff final without me Left after 21 matches with Folkestone in 2nd and on course for 3rd promotion in a row. 23/24 Everton Premier League 11th Alexander Nübel (GK) Took over after 16 matches. Won Carabao Cup. 24/25 Everton Premier League 7th Christopher McKay (MR) Won Carabao Cup (again) and Europa League, thus qualifying for Champions League. 25/26 Everton Premier League 3rd Christopher McKay (MR) Carabao Cup Threepeat, Lost in CL Final. 26/27 Everton Premier League 1st Moise Kean (SC) League / FA Cup Double. 27/28 Everton Premier League 2nd Christopher McKay (MR) Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup Treble 28/29 Everton Premier League 1st Christopher McKay (MR) League, FA Cup, Champions League, Club World Championship International Year Team Achievements 23 Indonesia U23 Topped U23 Asian Nations Cup Qualifying.Quit shortly afterwards. 24-26 Uruguay World Cup S/F 26-28 France Knocked out in Euros Q/F 28- Argentina Qualified for World Cup Challenge Progress 4/32 Club 1/10 top domestic leagues (England) 1/10 domestic cups (England) 1/5 club continental championships (Europe) 1/1 club world championship International 0/5 continental tournaments 0/2 world tournaments 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britrock Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 On 20/06/2020 at 19:34, vikeologist said: I’m still not in the Worldwide Hall of Fame. That’s not really a surprise. One doesn’t normally get into it in this challenge because you tend to move on from a club after winning a couple of things. One of you got into it recently and I was surprised, but having won so much with Everton, I should get into it soon. Maybe very soon. I made it into the Hall of Fame a few years back, probably around the Santos part of my journey. I can't remember if I'm in the top 10 but I'm definitely close. After winning Serie A I got a news story about how I was being considered as the greatest English manager of all time, so I must be doing something right! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now